


Little One

by fleshblush



Category: BioShock
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-22
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2019-01-03 22:42:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 30,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12156294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fleshblush/pseuds/fleshblush
Summary: ❝ Watching her with the Big Daddy, it was suddenly so clear. It wouldn't stop, it would never leave her. It would never hurt her or shout at her or get drunk and hit her or say it was too busy to spend time with her. And it would die to protect her. Of all the powerful men in Rapture over the years, this thing, this freak of science, was the only thing that measured up in an insane world, it was the sanest choice. ❞





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this story is also posted to wattpad, under the same name and same user. chapters will be posted there first before here, so if you'd like to read a chapter first, you can do there!
> 
> thank you.

**JULY, 1960**

She was dressed in rags. One shoe taken from her once soft and settle foot, hair torn up in a rat's nest. A few golden curls still tried to stay in place but it was all for not. Her hair would either be left alone or cut off, the knots too tangled to be brushed out. However it appeared that this woman didn't care about that anymore. Her bare foot slapped against the floor tiles without question. Even if broken glass dug its way into her flesh she didn't care. The only thing she cared about was two things; whatever her Spliced up mind could think about and ADAM... With her mind in total chaos, it was hard for her to actually get what she wanted. One minute she whined about her husband, who had cheated on her a few months after they came to Rapture. The poor gal couldn't remember that she Spliced up and killed her husband and his mistress years ago. A little after the war had started... everyone was on ADAM by then, why couldn't she?

The pale pink of her dress was stained in dry blood and dirt. It hit her knees every time she walked. What was she walking toward? The blonde couldn't exactly remember. She couldn't remember most things these days. All she knew is that she had to find her husband... the bastard, and make him _hers_  again. She just had to convince him a little... with the revolver limply settled within her fingers. Her other hand was shoved into her mouth. Her teeth repeatedly bit into the chipped red nails. It kept her mind at ease for a little bit of time. This way she could focus on finding Thomas and getting him back.

"Thomas... honey? Are you in there?" She blindly called into a hall. The carpet had rotted and the walls were decaying. A body was stuck to the ground at the end of the hall, it's blood decorating the walls like a child's coloring page. Messy and scrambled, like eggs on a Sunday morning. She didn't seem to care about this, though. "Darling... I want you to come home... please, come back with me."

She didn't get an answer, and thus she turned to continue the search for her husband. It's what she did most days. Aside from killing the innocent and the sinful. As far as she was concerned, the women wanted her husband and the men wanted her. She wasn't theirs, and he wasn't theirs. They belonged to each other, forever and always. He was somewhere here in Rapture, and she wasn't half wrong. Thomas  _was_  in Rapture. His decayed body was left back in their home in Apollo Square. His dear wife couldn't handle the thought of him dead so she went crazy, Splicing up and turning into a monster. It's what happened to almost everyone. Anyone who didn't turn into Splicers either died from them or hid exceptionally well. They tried to get back to the surface. They didn't know they never were going to see the sun again. This was their resting place, their aquatic grave. The sooner they accepted this, the better.

The woman kept going. Looking and looking for something she'd never find until... she heard it. No, she heard  _her_. The sweet angelic giggle of... a Little Sister. Stopping in her tracks, the blonde Splicer listened. She needed to make sure it was one of those brats. Most Splicers, particularly the females, would intimidate the little girl's voices to lure other Splicers in, and then kill them for their ADAM. She wouldn't fall for it again. The gash she had gotten last time would keep reminding her.

But it was unmistakably the little girl. The actual little girl with a baby face and demonic eyes. Deep inside her body rested the purest of ADAM in the whole world. The little girls could carry it in their bodies. It's what made them so desirable. Everyone wanted them.

She heard it again, the sickeningly sweet giggle of the girl. She beckoned someone from behind her on and then ran forward, possibly to a dead body where the ADAM was. It was only the girls who could obtain the crimson jelly from the dead bodies. Their genetic structure bonded perfectly with the parasite in their sunken bellies, unlike anyone else. The little girls were the key.

"Oh... it's an orphan. We gotta go get her, Tommy," she cooed to her dead lover however it could've well have been no one. Lowering her stance, the woman began to sneak her way beyond the wall, trying to get the upper hand on the child. Because of her sick mind she had no problem with murdering a girl in cold blood. The fact that she was a child didn't matter. It what was inside of her that mattered. "She's gonna die by herself... where's her Daddy at?"

The woman snuck below a counter top, peeking around the side to see where the little girl went off to. She was small, like most of them were, with a ratted pale purple dress and hair tied back in a low pony tail. Her feet were bare, her skin was a ghoulish gray, and her eyes gleamed like gold. She stood there, holding her toy with both hands, and sniffed the air. This is how the Sisters found the dead bodies. They could sniff out the ADAM, unlike the Splicers. Yet once they found them, the ADAM was ripe for the taking, by anyone who could find them. The Little Sister now moved forward, past the benches of the fake garden square and onto the fake streets of the empty shopping district. Did she not know that this place was Splicer infested? One wrong move and she would die. This only made the woman smile. She stood up from her hiding place and aimed her gun toward the tiny back of the girl. Would she let out a warning shot? Or would she just kill her instantly?

However, before she made up her mind, the little girl quickly turned around. Once her wide eyes of gold laid upon the Splicer woman she gasped out loud. "A badie...," her two-toned voice softly said out loud. She didn't move as she clutched her toy to her chest. "Oh no."

"C'mon, sweetheart, it's time to come to Mommy." The woman cracked a toothy grin as she took a step forward. The gun was still aimed at her but now it aimed at her tiny torso. One wrong move and she would blast a hole through her body. "You're gonna get hurt out here all by yourself. Come to Mommy..."

Every time she took a step forward the girl took one backward until she turned tail and dashed to one of the vents. The Splicer would follow suit, scream at her to get out, and die to the drill of her dashing hero Daddy in a rusted suit of armor.

* * *

~~~~

**JUNE, 1956**

Rapture was a chance at a new life. A chance to forget about the ways of old and be reborn. It's exactly what Mary and Allen Locke dreamed and wanted, and it's exactly what they got. On June eighth of 1956, the couple decided to pack up and leave their cramped apartment in New York and leave for the promised metal land of Rapture. There was buzz of this underwater world for a few years now, and Andrew Ryan danced on everyone's lips. Many reporters had conducted interviews with the man behind the city before he went down there forever. At first, only the creators of the place where allowed residency down there. Soon people of respectable talents were gained access, and then admission for Rapture was open to the public.

The Locke's debated about it for a while, whether to go down there or not. They were a fairly young couple, only in their mid-twenties with their first baby girl, all wrapped up in silk blankets and little booties. They wanted a new life, for New York wasn't cutting it for them at the moment. Allen was struggling for a job. He had about four in the time they found their apartment, and the time their daughter was born. The child was now a year old, barely standing on her wobbly, chubby legs in the living room of her parent's apartment when the decision was made that the Locke's would move to Rapture.

It wasn't just an ' _in the moment_ ' type of situation, no. See, Rapture needed workers. Anyone who would do physical labor and contribute to the city. Sure, they had numerous aristocrats and diplomats but what Rapture lacked was the supporting foundation, and that needed workers. Allen took word of it and applied for citizenship of the watery city as soon as possible. Afterwords telling his dear wife who sat with their daughter in her arms.

Her first reaction? He was drunk. "An underwater city? Allen that sounds crazy." Mary cooed the baby, her hand patting her rump to calm her down. Her eyes gazed lovingly at her child, the only thing in this world she cared for above anything else. "We are not moving to a place we'd drown in two days later."

"Honey that's just it," Allen said, kneeling before her, gathering up the small fabric of her dress in his hands to express his urgency. "People already live down there, for years now. It's completely safe, for us and for Claire." The baby whined softly in response, dragging the attention away from the matter at hand and onto herself. Her mother, as quick as ever, turned back to her child and shushed her, positioning her tiny body differently. Maybe she would like this better. "Plus, I'm guaranteed a job once we get there." And the ship was sailed. The Locke's were moving to Rapture. After a few more details...

They promised to write their friends and families once they arrived. Inside, Mary was extremely excited to move somewhere no girl had ever lived before. To raise her child in a place no child had ever grown up before. Did she see this as her future when she was sixteen? Of course not, Mary had the same American dream as every girl; get married and live in a big house and have lots of children. It was something Mary was content with, not something she reached for. Sure, if she could've married a billionaire or an artist, she would've enjoyed that too and be just as content. Yet there she sat, in a bathysphere ready to descend to the bottom of the sea with her husband and one year old daughter. Something no girl could ever imagine.

And something she would think about everyday as her life slowly turned into a living hell. Even now, as her old corpse rots in the metal lined streets of Rapture's floors, Mary regrets the moment she stepped out of the bathysphere and let her daughter breathe in that Rapture air.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**AUGUST, 1957**

The dish was plunged into the soapy water, a rag coming to scrub the food and gunk from it's surface. Mary Locke tilted her head slightly to the side as she did this. Her body washing the few dishes that were in the sink, her mind in a place far away from here. To a place possibly less smelly than Apollo's Square. More elegant like Olympus Heights, although she knew she'd never get there with Allen, who slaved his days away for a poor salary at Neptune's Bounty. Mary didn't agree to it but it was the only place that would take her husband at the time. The days in Rapture were becoming more and more like the days in New York, depressing with no hope in the foreseeable future. The only difference now was that they couldn't leave the city with their funds and they had a sweet two year old to raise. The child sat near one of the windows now, watching the fish swim by the glasses. The scales gleamed from the lights the city emitted. Claire was mesmerized by it. It was the only thing she'd do for hours. It was the only thing she loved to do. The family was fortunate enough to get an apartment with a window of the sea. A huge rock took up most of half of the view, but the visible bits were surely something special.

Her mother called for her to come down the hall to get ready for a day out. Another thing Claire loved was walking around and exploring the city with her mother. Granted that they never got really far, Claire made a promise that she would get older and explore it for herself. She wanted to see even bigger windows that displayed even bigger fish. That was her main goal, and it was quite ambitious for a two year old.

The child slipped into her shoes and met her mother at the door. With hangbag at the ready, the mother-daughter duo left their apartment for their day out in the city. Mary needed to get more thread, heaps of it recently, but she also wanted to allow Claire to have a fun day out. Growing up in Rapture had proven to be quite the task. Claire's curious little mind had so many questions and at first, they mostly had answers. Now she was given saddened looks and sighs and a pat on the head. She didn't know why her parents had become to upset in the recent months but it was happening. When they thought she was asleep, she could hear them arguing. The child didn't like it but never said anything. Instead she tried her best to appear happy and cheerful. It helped.

Her third birthday would come in a few weeks and although money was a problem for the Locke's, both Mary and Allen agreed she deserved to be spoiled for the occasion . Today would hopefully be that day.

Upon leaving Apollo Square, the two traveled down one of the many long hallways of the city. People came and went, some bidding a good morning to them and others ignoring them completely. Claire saw a few children, older than she was but just as lively. Her mother stopped to chat with their mothers and Claire was allowed to compliment a girl's dress or comment on a boy's shoes. The words were exchanged and off they went, disappearing behind the intimidating corners Claire never dared go alone. She sometimes found her city Rapture to be scary. Not always but sometimes.

For living in Rapture's slums, the Locke's always tried to look their best. Claire had only three dresses that were her very best yet she took very good care of them, and always made sure to keep her shoes neat and tidy. Hair always brushed and face clear of grime, Claire Locke knew how to keep an appearance even at such a young age. It was important to her, more so her mother. Mary never wanted to fit into the stereotypes the elitists would say about the lower class citizens. Her hair was tidy too.

"Are you ready for your birthday present Claire?" her mother asked as they came upon the train station. As any little girl would, Claire nodded her head excitedly. It was extremely rare that her mother and herself would take a train somewhere in Rapture, so she knew this was something really special.

The train ride over was quiet. Many people got off and on, going about their daily lives. A few children had gotten on with their mothers, but eventually they had all gotten off by the time the Locke's reached Ryan Amusements, a place Claire had begged her mother to go for ages now. It had a ride, live entertainment and a gift shop! It all sounded so impressive to the slum-living girl, but what she ready wanted to see was the ride, " _Journey to the Surface._ " It was all the children in Rapture ever wanted to see. Their mothers and fathers who came from the surface told them of amazing stories of cities filled with cars and buses, people of all over. Forests, gardens, and the sunshine: as real as an ice loli. A warm feeling that crept up yours shoulders and drowned in your hair. Claire's mother would go on and on about her house in the country, with a farm. Her family had horses and cows and chickens and pigs. Mary could sit for hours, snuggling up with her daughter and dream about a completely different world than the one she accompanied now. And as beautiful as the surface sounded like, Ryan had a completely different picture for Rapture's youth.

"I am Andrew Ryan," a voice said as people poured into the park. Claire bounced on her heels. She was finally here! "Welcome to Ryan Amusements. Please, enjoy the park."

Mary bought their tickets for the ride, making a mental note to see if they could afford anything in the gift shop later, and made their way into the standing queue, with all of the other families. Each child had a face lit up in wonder for what was in store for them. Scanning the room, Claire noticed a lot of couples with their child. A boy would look up at his father and beam a brilliantly wide smile. Claire felt indifferent about this. She knew her father couldn't make it. He had work to do, busy earning money to provide for his family. She knew this yet still wondering what if he had come. Wwould she be happier? Honestly she had no idea. So she grabbed her mother's hand and smiled up at her. She was perfectly fine with expirencing this with her mother. She did favor her more, afterall.

Before everyone was permitted into the carts, Andrew Ryan had a speech prepared. A fake Ryan sat at a desk, emitting his voice somewhere above them. He sat in a relaxed pose, as if merely noticing he had any company at all. Ryan went on about how he had his dream of Rapture, and how he put it into action. And then the question came; what was the surface like and has it changed in the years since? To find out, they would need to continue on with the ride. And so they did! The gates of the ride opened, and they were allowed into the tiny bathysphere-like carts. Claire hurried and jumped into the first one. She wanted to get the first view of the ride, the best view. Mary came in a second after, not as excited but appearing so for Claire. As soon as every person was safely seated in their carts, they began to move on the track. Claire couldn't contain her excitement. She gripped the steel bar that secured her tiny body in place kicked her legs back and forth. Her mother chuckled at her side.

The ride come upon a pastoral view, of a vivid blue sky and fluffy white clouds. Green grass was sprawled out on the floor and Claire wanted so much to touch it. She always imagined what grass felt like. It was probably soft, like her blankets back home. A little ways in the distance sat a house, in the doorway stood a woman and a little girl, holding onto each other as they watched a man out in the field work. Mary whispered something about a farm and Claire almost jumped out of her seat. A farm! This is what it looks like!

"On the surface, the farmer tills the soil, trading the strength of his arm for a home and land of his own," Ryan spoke overhead. Claire could almost imagine it, this view, as the view of her mother's childhood. Her own mother holding onto  _her_ mother, watching their husband and father work for them. Claire imagined chickens and pigs, animals she had never seen before but imagined what they would look like, running around in the grass. And Claire would chase them. "But the Parasites say, 'NO!' " And suddenly, a pair of gigantic hands came from the sky and tore off the roof of the farmer's house. The once bright sky is gone, replaced with red lights shining onto the farmer and his wife and child. The hands, labeled  _God_  and  _Government_ , go on to steal the contents of the house. " ' Whats yours is ours! We are the state, we are God, and we demand our share.' "

On and on this went, Ryan telling the children of the Parasites of the surface, how everything that people work hard to earn and keep are ripped away from them, using God and the government as an excuse to be greedy. Other things are shown as well, the Parasites censoring an artists work and forcing a scientist to continue to slave away for them. The last attraction, the one that horrified Claire the most, was the government stealing a boy, a child, to go off and fight in a war that wasn't his own, to die. Claire huddled close to her mother. This display that Ryan held out was nothing like what her mother had told her. The surface was cold-hearted, greedy and... awful. She had no idea of any other way to describe it.

The end of the ride stood at a lighthouse, a smaller version of the lighthouse that descended Claire and her family down a few years ago, with a little girl inside a bathysphere. Ryan's voice came back overhead, lecturing the children about the dangers of the surface and how much safer they would be in Rapture, "So you see, there is no place for you on the surface, but  you may bring the world to you! If you know someone who belongs in Rapture, write a letter to the Ryan Industries mailroom. And you never know! The next new face... might be familiar."

Their little cart rode them out as 'Rise, Rapture, Rise,' the anthem for the underwater haven, played in the background. From that day on, Claire never asked about the surface again. Out of fear or sadness, she never wanted to even think about it. However, once in a while, she would dream of her perfect world, on a farm with her mother and father and the chickens and pigs, and everything would be alright.


	3. Chapter 3

**DECEMBER 31, 1958**

It was their fifth fight of the night. A bottle thrown. A bang of the cupboards. Claire sat in her room, in the same apartment in Apollo Square. She played with a doll she had gotten a year ago, it's hair still spick and span. The young girl was used to this by now - her parents fighting. It had been going on for a year. Ever since her father started on his Splicing journey. His anger towards his wife grew by the day. He even hit her when the anger was so boiling hot in his throat and he couldn't contain it. Claire saw it once. She didn't know what to think at the time and even now she was conflicted. She loved her father, like any child would, and loved her mother all the same. She didn't want this anger and hatred between them but there was nothing in the world that she could do. And so she sat back and tried to block it all out.

During those hideous fights Claire would hum herself a song she heard down here in the city. It was on a boring day. Her mother was talking to some other woman and they gossiped about Mr. Fontaine and the sort but, at her young age, Claire didn't care much. She walked a little bit away from their conversation, eyes peering out into the sea. The huge windows that displayed the cool blue water were every where in Rapture's public eye. The sight would always take Claire's breath away. She continued to look and admire when she said the first hum of the song. It was a bit to her left and wasn't as clear as it was when she finally had gotten closer. A girl, around her own age, was humming the song. She stood in a line of about a dozen other girls. They all dressed the same, all had the same low ponytail in their tamed hair, and all took the same stance. All of their backs were perfectly straight and their arms held tightly behind their back. It gave Claire an eerie chill up her neck.

However, the low hum still emitted from the little girl's mouth. Claire couldn't the front of her but she knew it was the girl in the last row. The back of her heels slightly bounced on themselves as she did so.

"What song are you singing?" Claire asked her. A moment later Claire had started to scream. The little girl that was humming turned around to reveal her ghoul-ish glowing eyes. Wide and bright, deep yellow. Mary came and quickly scooped her child up in her arms and was even startled herself at the child's glowing eyes. Words of '  _Little Sister_  ' mumbling into and out of her ears. What kind of monster was this? Mary had heard rumors about the things but never saw one for herself...

Although the girl scared the wits out of her, Claire couldn't get her or the song out of her head. Singing it comforted her to a strange degree.

The roar of the slam of the front door indicated the ending of the fight. Claire heard her mother yell something along the lines of  _never come back_ , and a wail of sadness was shouted at their apartment walls. The girl waited until her own door was flung open. Her mother stood there, makeup tearing down her face of defeat. A sniffle here, a few walks forward and Claire was wrapped up in her arms. She seemed to try and console the older woman in a way only a child knew how, by rubbing her back and telling her not to cry. If only it were so easy.

"I'm so sorry for bringing you down here," Mary sobbed into her child's tiny shoulder, her grip tightened with each word that slipped from her lips. "I could've been such a better mother to you. I always wanted you to see the sky and the sun." And soon her sobbing was too much to form words. All that was heard was her crying. Claire didn't know how to react. She wanted to say that she was a perfect mother, a loving parent, and that her life down here in Rapture was great as is. Would it make a difference now? Most likely, no.

Shifting her body upwards Claire took a hand to wipe her mother's sadness away, "Momma? What if we just leave? We can ask Mr. Ryan and go to your family's farm, like you always wanted."

It was a few minutes of Mary taking this in. Mary didn't know of anyone leaving Rapture. People did disappear, especially in Apollo Square, but she wasn't sure if that was because of them leaving the underwater city or just dying. Surely it wasn't the latter. Another thing that dawned onto her, would Claire really be willing to do this? As far as Mary knew Claire was terrified of the surface because of all the propaganda about it. It's what they were taught in the schools and on the streets; Ryan had a whole ride dedicated to scaring the witts out of children! Mary never wanted to put Claire in a situation where she would be too overwhelmed but if she would really do it...

"Okay," Mary said at long last. She sucked in all of her fears and troubles and exhaled them a second later. "We'll leave first thing tomorrow morning."

Upon seeing her mother smile, Claire erupted into a fit of joy. She clasped her mother by her neck with both arms and kissed her curly brown hair. It was a bittersweet moment. Both of their smiles would be temporary. It seemed as soon as Claire pulled away from her mother's embrace, their hopes were destroyed because at the same time, the bombs went off at the Kashmir restaurant.

The two could feel the vibration from their apartment. Screams were heard from a few apartments down. Mary quickly pulled her daughter back into her arms, fear taking possession of her once again. Her mind went blank. She could hear nothing. What was going on?

Not very far, Allen was drinking his sorrows away on the lonely streets of the city. People busheled by him, all running away from the explosions that had just sounded off. It wasn't particularly close to Apollo Square but it was close enough for everyone to panic and run about, trying to get to their homes. Allen struggled to stand up properly. A man rammed into him and a second later was gone, just as quickly as he had come. In his drunken haze Allen had no idea what was going on. He kept to the walls as he walked, towards the sound of utter chaos.

Mary had no idea what happened to him on that night. She never did see him again.

* * *

 

**JANUARY 1, 1959**

The terrors of the night were over, and the new year was finally here. Mary barely slept a wink that night, mostly to make sure Claire was safe. After the explosion the city went into chaos. On the radios, people were told to stay indoors. The rebels, lead by a man named Atlas, was now in full fledge fight with Ryan. Mary had heard a spark of words about him at the shopping districts. He was a man who wanted Ryan to be taken out, as he claimed that Ryan was doing just as he said he wanted to escape from, taking from the poor and giving it to others, the upper class. And Mary did agree with Atlas. It was true, the poorer side of Rapture was in a bad state. Many people were dying, many families splitting apart because the parents couldn't care for the children. The girls were sent to  _Little Sister's Orphanage_. It was still up and running, even after Frank Fontaine died, the man who created them. Even though the homeless shelters that were Fontaine's were taken down after his death by Ryan, the Orphanages stayed. No one knew why but it made giving their children away a lot harder.

Atlas was a light in the dark, a spark of hope for Rapture's homeless population. Many people in Apollo Square supported him. Others were too fearful to speak up. Some just didn't care. And now, a war was beginning, between Atlas and Ryan. The attack last night was barely a taste of what was in store. There was word that Atlas had Splicers, people who rewritten their genetic code for a better one. With powers, called Plasmids, that gave them strength. No one knew for sure. Mary still had no idea. She knew of the plain ADAM substance, founded by the city's brightest Bridget Tenenbaum, in a sea slug. Once injected into one's body, they could be healed of practically anything. However the effects would wear off over time and even drive one to insanity, which is why there is such a high demand of ADAM. Mary never needed it, she never liked the idea of it in the first place. She did know many people who did though, and she saw them slowly spiral out into an entirely different person. Allen had injected himself with ADAM only for work since he was starting to injure himself a lot these days and needed something for the pain. However once he did such a thing there was no turning back. When there was a shortage of ADAM, Allen took his anger out on his wife.

Mary considered getting onto the stuff to make sure she would be strong enough to care and protect Claire. It would surely be a hassle. She knew where to get it. However she didn't want to drag Claire into it. If she ever had a shortage, she didn't want to take it out on her. Mary sighed as she thought about it.

"Momma, I don't see Daddy anywhere," Claire said. She was looking out one of the front windows of their apartment, searching for her father amidst the crowds of people, scurrying all over for protection. "Do you think he's at work?"

"I don't know, honey," Mary replied, walking over to the window and pulling the blinds closed. With a numb expression, she sat back down on the couch, feeling the worrisome eyes of her daughter drilling into her body. She couldn't just shut her out, she needed to take care of her and refirm in her that everything would be okay. She had to do it, she just didn't have the strength.

Watching her mother look so lost, so confused and troubled, it sort of scared her. Their plans of leaving the city were ultimately gone, at least that's what Claire thought. They never did spoke of them again in the coming weeks. It was all about survival, and to survive some sacrifices would have to be made. As the city went deeper into war, that vail of safety was slowly being torn apart. Mary had no choice. She needed to Splice.

A week or two later, Mary had acquired five vials of red, gooey ADAM. It had no smell, from what Mary observed. She brought it home along with a needle she had purchased from the Medical Pavilion. She was surprised she could even buy such a thing, but times were dire in Rapture, so one shouldn't expect much. Making sure the doors were locked Mary went on with it.

She juiced the needle up, rolled up her sleeve, and just as she was about to plunge the needle into her skin, Claire came into view. They locked eyes and stared at each other for such a long time. "You can't do this by yourself, Momma."

Claire pushed herself up onto the couch next to her mother and calmly awaited until the deed was over with. Mary looked over at her, surprised that a child her age was acting so mature about the situation. Was it because this has been her life? The dark, cold metal of the city now encasing her daughter's mind? She hoped that wasn't the case. She wanted Claire to grow up in a kind person, nothing like what lurks down here. It was hard to think about, her daughter turning into another junkie from Rapture, yelling and hollering in the streets for ADAM. No, no she can't think like that when the damn needle was inches from her skin. Closing her eyes and slamming her mouth shut, Mary drove the damned thing into her body and pushed down.

When the ADAM came rushing into her body... it felt like fire. No, like lava. Burning, scolding hot lumps of pure lava squeezing its way into her arm. Running through her veins like a speed horse. In an instant she felt the ADAM in her lungs, down her legs, up her throat. She couldn't see or hear anything but she knew she was screaming. She just couldn't hear herself.

Knowing her child was right beside her, watching and hearing every bit of what was going on, Mary quickly covered her mouth with her hands, trying to muffle the shrieks. She didn't know whether it helped or not. All she saw was red. Pulsating, red all around. It reminded her of a heart, beating in a rib cage. Why would anyone want to do this?

It felt like hours of this torture. Heat devouring her entire body. In between glimpses she could hear Claire, telling her everything is okay and she would be okay. Whether Mary believed it was a mystery. Yet it did stop eventually. Mary's vision died down to the cool earthy colors of their Apollo apartment. The first thing being the ceiling and that's when she noticed she was laying on the floor. Her head laid in her daughter's lap, her tiny fingers running the knots out of her hair. Mary stayed like that for what seemed like forever before she stood up and felt her cells react to every move she made. It was nothing like the woman had ever felt before. She could feel her daughter's skin as her fingers wrapped themselves around her wrist. Every pattern was being transferred into Mary's mind. Claire said something but Mary couldn't fully register what words she had spoken. Mary groaned out loud and rammed her hand into her head. It felt like nothing.

Claire said something again. Mary didn't hear it properly but she understood. "I'm fine, sweetheart. Just a bit jumbled up. That stuff packs a punch."

A glass cup was thrown into her vision. Claire was holding it, extending the drink towards her dear mother. Mary accepted it with a smile. The liquid felt odd down her new throat. It tasted bland, but not like water had much of a flavor anyway. Mary didn't think much of it.

"How does it feel Momma?" The child asked as she observed her mother's actions.

"Funny, baby," Mary replied as she set the cup on the floor. "Really funny. I feel all fuzzy."

However in the next few hours Mary would grow into a powerful protector of her little girl. No one would harm her, and even though they are attacked a few times, Mary handled it. All is well for weeks, a month, until February where her entire world comes to a screeching halt.

It started at midnight. A bang on the door of their apartment. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would just like to thank everyone for 100 reads and 11 kudos on this! Thank you all so much~ I would also love if you could comment and give me feedback!   
> Another thing; you can read chapters early if you read this on Wattpad! It's under the same name, by the same user.  
> Thank you!  
> Ellie.

**MARCH 16, 1959**

It had been weeks since she last saw her. Mary laid on the floor of their cheap, crappy apartment and stared off into watery space. Her eyes were red and dried from the amounts of crying she had done since those men came and ripped her daughter from her arms. They didn't take anything else, didn't rummage through her cupboards for ADAM or EVE. They didn't even take the weapons Mary had for their protection. They only took the child. Just as fast as they barged into her life, they were gone. In the middle of the night. Or whatever night was down in the deep. It was all a blur, a blur Mary didn't care to straighten out. The only thing on her mind, for the rest of her days, would be her precious child.

* * *

 

**FEBRUARY 19, 1959**

They knocked her unconscious when they kidnapped Claire. She was fighting too much, screaming too loud for their comfort. One of those thuggish Splicers grumbled, "Someone shut tha' bitch up already." His orders were sent out. The only thing Mary remembers is the fear settled wide in her daughter's doe green eyes. Eyes that reminded her of the grass on the surface, the surface she missed to her very core.

She didn't know how long it had been when she awoke. Everything stayed the same down here. The small trail of crimson thread that leaked from the wound on her head wasn't that much. Mary let out a groan, closing her eyes but it only made matters worse for herself. The beating that rang around her head was too much to even think about. She reopened her eyes and slowly lifted her body off of the ground. She was laid in the living room. Why was she in the living room? With groggily eyes Mary slowly looked around trying to search for any indication of why she was in that room. The only thing she saw were crumpled blankets near the corner...

Oh, of course! Claire wanted to watch the sea as she fell asleep. It was relaxing to her. To just watch the fish swim freely. She wanted to get a book and look up the names of different fish she saw. Claire wanted to...

"Cl... claaaire...," Mary choked out. With a weak hand she reached out towards the blankets, searching for something that wasn't there. And then it all came rushing back. The banging on the door, the shotgun that alerted their arrival inside. Mary didn't even have time to grab Claire - they were so fast.

A gust of air escaped from her lungs as she made her way onto her feet, staggering into the wall. Everything felt foggy. That blur was still there but what was most important was finding Claire.

"Claaaaire," she moaned out again. The front door to their apartment was still wide open. Mary didn't notice if anything had been taken while she was out. In all honesty, she could care less. Lumbering forward she made it out into the hall, looking down both corridors for any sign of helpful life. Rapture's junkies meant nothing. She needed sane people. "Help..." It was a mousy, squeak of a call. Her head was pounding too much. "Help... me." She gulped the lump that had formed in her overly dry throat. It finally dawned on her that she needed some ADAM. It would heal her at a fast pace but now she was down a significant amount of the hall, and crawling her way back was not going to work.

She made her way down to the ground floor of the apartment building. It was clear, not a sign of people in sight. Mary lunged forward, barely able to catch herself as she fell, mumbling, "Where's my baby? Where's my baby?" No one listened. Or cared too.

The pain just kept coming, taunting her of death. She felt the blood leak out of her body like water. It was such a unique feeling. She could never describe it. "Claaaaire... Claaaire..."

Softly, she settled her head on the floor of the building. She closed her eyes and repeated her lost child's name over and over again. Until someone else's voice came into her head, loudly, "Why'sa little dolly like you laying half dead on tha' floor?" Someone prodded at her ribs. It didn't hurt. This could be someone to help. It seemed unlikely.

"M-my daughter... please, my baby." It was the last thing she said before being thrown into darkness without warning.

* * *

 

**FEBRUARY 20, 1959**

_Gasp._

Mary's eyes flew open. A blast of light blurred her thoughts until her eyes adjusted. A light casted down on her from above. She let out a groan. Nothing hurt. Nothing was sore. But she felt it anyway.

"Easy there, lass. Don't want you overdoin' it."

Her head quickly snapped to the side. Sitting near the bed she was laid in was a man in suspenders, slick back hair and a tired smile. He looked fit, maybe even a bit dapper in this clothing, and his eyes seemed to tell a story. Of hardships and struggles. He offered a hand out to her, that smile never leaving his face. "The name's Atlas. Pleasure to meet ya."

"Atlas...?" She never spoke the name aloud. "You're the -"

"I believe you're lookin' for your daughter, hm?" He completely dodged her question. Once she didn't shake his hand, he went on with speaking. "I think I know where she's been taken to, miss. It's where all the little girls are taken to nowadays. The  _Little Sister's Orphanage_."

How could that be? This didn't make any sense to the woman. Her eyebrows furrowed as she took in his words, head shaking a bit. "Claire... isn't an orphan. I'm her mother... and I thought that placed closed when Frank Fontaine died."

Atlas leaned back in his seat, propping a leg up. "Ryan. All this chaos and madness it because o' him."

Mary still didn't understand, and if she were honest, she didn't really care. All she wanted to know was what had happened to her daughter. The mother shifted in the bed, making sure her legs were working, and then looked down at the hospital gown she was wearing. To think someone touched her body and saw her naked... it disgusted her. However she knew better than to act to defiant in front of a man, especially a man with power. Flickering her brown eyes back up at the man aside her, she considered what her next moves were. They were who took her daughter, she just needed to know where. She would get there herself. After all, she did have the ADAM chemical pumping through her veins.

Thinking on it now, Mary knew exactly where a vendor was near her apartment. She could buy a few Plasmids for her daughter's rescue, and after that she was getting the hell out of Rapture. Going back to America would be ideal but just getting to the surface was all the woman cared about. Mary bit her lower lip, debating on whether to ask her question. She didn't know if he'd be willing to help or not.

"Do... you know where my Claire is?" Atlas smiled at her. There was a certain gleam in his eye that screamed _yes_.

"I be willin' to help ya, miss, for somethin' in return." Atlas didn't put on his charming facade anymore. The man leaned back in his wooden chair. His dark eyes raked over Mary's body and for a second she knew exactly what is was. However, he locked onto her eyes. He wanted something else. "Ryan knows who all of my men are. If he sees them on his security cameras, they're a bunch o' goners. But you... you're a fresh face, lass."

She didn't understand. "So you want me to fight for you?"

"No, no I have plenty of people for that. I need you to get into Ryan's office for me. Steal something for me and I'll give you the information you need to save your daughter."

Mary was a housewife, not a spy. She wouldn't know the first thing to even remotely trying to sneak inside Ryan's offices. She'd be loud and messy. And if she were caught? She'd never see Claire again. It was too great of a risk. Looking down at her hands Mary said, "I... I'm sorry Mr. Atlas but I can't do that. If - if something happens I," she looked up at him. Her irises trembled at the mere thought of never being with her dear daughter. "I'm sorry I just can't do it."

Nothing was uttered from the two for some time. Mary refused to look at the man. She didn't know what to do either. Being in the presence of a man with power, and then refusing to do anything he asked, was very risky and a bit dangerous. She debated on whether to simply get up and walk out of the place or to say anything to excuse herself.

However, finally, Atlas spoke, "I can respect your wishes, miss. If it were my child, I don't reckon I'd risk it either."

Relief flooded her body and Mary allowed herself to look back up at him. "I appreciate everything, mister, but if it ruins any chance to see my daughter again... I'm so awfully sorry."

"Me too."

Confusion clouded her brain. Atlas made no movement toward her but arms from the other side of her bed had grabbed onto her arms and body and pulled her back. Instantly she had started to scream, begging whoever to let her go. Meanwhile Atlas remained calm as he stood up and faced her. A rather large hand harshly forced her to look at Atlas as he stood there. She wasn't crying but the panic in her eyes made it seem so. She just wanted to get out of her, to get to her daughter. She knew a name, that's all she needed. She would search all of the orphanages until her legs fell off.

Atlas walked around the bed, closer to her. He sighed as he was handed a crowbar. It's end was covered in hair and some thick, solid substance. It was stained brown. Mary's eyes flickered from the crowbar to the man and it clicked together. She had never been brutally hit before. Allen did hit her but never so hard, and even know with the ADAM in her system she could take a hit or two. Yet Atlas was a man who probably had years of experience with ADAM. He knew what hurt and what didn't. Atlas twirled the metal in his hands and looked from it to her. He sighed again. "I don't want to hurt a lady but I need to let you know what will happen if I ever see you again, lass. We just needed you to do one thing."

The blow was quick and very painful. Atlas cracked the bar across Mary's body about thirty times before his men threw her back onto Rapture's dirty streets. Had it not been for the ADAM, Mary would've bled out. It took her half an hour to crawl into a safe space, away from the people and the city and everything else and to just rest. She didn't know how long she slept for but when she did wake up, her wounds were dried over.

Moving ached everything in her soul. She didn't want to at first but forced herself to stand. Using the wall for support, Mary then took in her surroundings. Nothing looked familiar.

Eventually she did make her way back to her apartment. Walking in without her child felt wrong. She hated it. The door had been opened and when she walked in, she noticed someone had been in there. Things were thrown around and items were gone. She had been robbed but that didn't matter. Mary didn't care. She closed the door behind her and limped toward the couch, collapsing onto the cushions. She exhaled, pain waving through her blood, and tried not to think about it all.

It was so hard not to. The blankets from their little sleepover in the living room were still there, a little ruffled up but still in the same place. Claire's toys were all about. Her shoes near the front door were still there - sitting and waiting to be used again. Mary closed her eyes and tried to think about the happier things but the only happy thing in all these years was her child. Nothing else gave her joy like seeing her Claire's smile. The little speckle of freckles that splashed across her rosy cheeks. Those grass green eyes. Claire was her entire world, and now that world was gone. Nothing else was the same. Mary opened her eyes.

She knew of a place Claire could be. One of the orphanages. She knew of one nearby. It would be a shot in the dark but it was a step forward in finding her daughter.

Mary did find her daughter. It was a few days later, near the outskirts of the Shopping Districts. A huge, walking can of scrap metal was following her, and she called after him like he was the only thing in the world.


	5. Chapter 5

**FEBRUARY, 1959**

They had come in like death. Demanding, scary and nothing like birth. Nothing was said properly and all Claire could hear was screaming and crying. It took her minute to fully open her seas of eyes and to focus on who's hands were grabbing onto her. It wasn't the soft hand of her mother's, it wasn't the familiar tone of even her father's. No - this voice was harsh and sounded like something heavy being pulled across the ground. It grabbed hold of Claire and squeezed her so hard she thought she'd be dead. Only it didn't work out that way.

She saw her mother, reaching out for her in a wild lunge of panic and hysteria. She never reached her and she never would. The further Claire was pulled away from her, the more she cried out. Hot tears raced down her cheeks and a single hand flew through the air. "Momma!" was all that left her lips before a different, evil hand clamped down and hissed into her ear to be quiet.

Claire would never forget those wails of pure sadness and pain.

She fought as hard as she could for a four year old. Flailing her arms around in a hope she'd hit her kidnapper, swinging her little legs and hoping her tiny toes would jam into their back. Her lungs in took gallons of air for her to shriek back out but it was to no avail - she was being taken. Like all those other little girls and how their mommas cried for weeks. Claire could hear them crying from her apartment sometimes. And when her mother wasn't around, she would go down to their rooms and try to cheer them up. She didn't know that allowing them to see her only gave them more pain.

Her kidnappers took her to a place she had never seen before. After shoving her into a insides of a man's coat, she struggled to breathe and didn't risk screaming, fearing she'd run out of air. When the coat was removed, she had no idea where she was. Claire didn't have time to piece it together either. The men shoved her forward into a single room, with a door that had bars on the window too high for the four year old to see through. The force of the push knocked her down. Her knees scraped across the wooden floor but she didn't let herself scream out loud. She slammed her own hand onto her mouth and squeezed the years back. Doing this, she distracted herself from seeing the door close behind her, a lock following after, sealing her inside.

The blood was less than what she thought and after a while Claire stood up and sat on the small pink bed in the corner of the room, reserved for her. The sheets were cold so she didn't touch them. Her blood was already strained on them anyway.

She didn't expect to stay long. Hours later the door to her cell reopened, and a tall man wearing a long white coat stood there. Claire couldn't see the goons on either side. Her eyes were locked on him as he entered. The man stopped at the ending of the bed; Claire responded by molding herself into the wall.

"I am not here to hurt you," he said at her reaction. She didn't believe him, and she had every right to. The man was lying. "I want you to come with me. Is that okay Claire?"

Her fear grew ten times at the fact that he knew her name. No one ever knew her name. Not the men who tried to steal their food and ADAM, not the women who yanked on Claire's little arms, thinking she was one of the ghoulish girls. Yet if someone did happen to know, even a sliver of her, her mother was always there to protect her. She never had to worry, but now? The little girl was terrified. Her breathing struggled and trudged along, trying to regulate itself but as long as she was here, it would never normalize. Claire knew, somewhere deep down in her small little body, that horrible things were going to happen to her. No matter how much she would fight or scream or yell, she wasn't going to win. She didn't know whether to accept that or not. She didn't want to.

Claire didn't move. She stayed frozen in her bed corner. When the man finally realized that she didn't have a desire to come with him, he became angry. She had never experienced anything like it before. He harshly grabbed onto her wrist and jerked her off of the bed. Her already wounded knees hit the hard floor and a whine came out of her. "Shut up," the man growled as he pulled her up onto her bare feet. "If you behaved properly, maybe you wouldn't hurt." With that the man began to walk out of the room, dragging Claire behind him, and down a hallway with many other doors. She noticed they all looked like her door - with high windows and bars. Were there other girls here too? Behind those doors?

Eventually they reached a double, steel door that required a button to be pressed for it to open. Once the door was open, the man rushed inside, sure to keep Claire tight within his grasp. He was dragging her so quickly she had no time to take in her surroundings. Before she knew it she was laying down on a metal table, the doctor and another man restricting her wrists and ankles by leather buckles. Claire instantly started to scream - kicking and pulling on the leather. Her whimpers were drowned out by the two men talking to the side. Claire couldn't see - or cared - what they were doing.

They were checking her vitals and medical records, seeing if the little girl on the table would be healthy enough for the surgery. She had to be, or the doctors had another body to throw into the open sea. However Claire was in perfect condition, and the okay was given. Her surgery would begin immediately.

One of the doctors, the one who pulled her into her, left the room while the other was walking towards Claire with an odd - looking mask in his hand. The girl saw this advancement, and started to pull on her bounds even harder than before. Repeating, "no" over and over again as he inched closer. Her heart was pounding rapidly. She could hear it even, like drums in her head. She thought she might've passed out from it. "Hush," the man said as he put the mask to Claire's mouth. A gas leaked into her nose and sunk it's way into her tongue. It didn't have an odor or taste but it was thick and it made Claire's throat feel crowded. The young girl tried to yank her face away but the man's hand and the mask followed. That's when she noticed how tired she was all of a sudden. And before she could even say another word, Claire was asleep.

The doctors worked quickly. After Claire was surely put under, the two men cut away her dress and began the operation.

The cut into Claire's flesh, pulling open to reveal her tiny insides. After her organs were exposed, a small little square was cut into her stomach, and inserted into her was the small sea slug that would soon contain enormous amounts of ADAM. One doctor looked at her sleeping face mid insertion. Her small lips barely open, her expression calm. If she was that scared about the doctors and their clean cut persona, the girl would most definitely be scared of the state Rapture was in outside of their walls. The bodies that would lay for weeks in the gutters, the new faces of the citizens. This girl, this new Little Sister, wouldn't even want to venture out for the the sweetest of ADAM. It was an obstacle that needed to be knocked down.

"Doctor Suchong," the man said beside him. Suchong was focused on making sure the slug had attached itself onto the walls of her stomach. Once it had, the man looked up.

"What?" He replied. He then turned back to the operation and carefully pulled the big, shiny pinchers out of Claire's stomach.  He didn't like this partner as much. He had too many troubling ideas that got in the way of Suchong's work.

"What if we try the sight on this one?" The man asked, grabbing the medical thread from their little table and handing it to said doctor. "She was out of her mind when I walked in the room to get her. She'll be too scared to even go out there if she sees Rapture."

"That take lot of time," Suchong replied almost immediately. Any idea he proposed, Suchong always turned down. It was because of Suchong's great dislike of him. "Time we no have. Give me needle."

The doctor sighed. Eventually he did convince Suchong to test the sight on Claire, the new Little Sister.

* * *

 

**FEBRUARY, 1959**

It had been days. The doctors had put Claire into a medical induced coma so that her wounds would heal without her tapering with them. When the child awoke, she was in the same small, caged room she had been pushed into when she first arrived, although she couldn't exactly remember anything past that. It was all a jumble of talking and it hurt her head, so she stopped thinking about it.

The girl sat up and noticed a new dress on her body, but she didn't know why she would call it "new," it was the only dress she remember wearing. Her long brown hair was now tied at the nape of her neck by a hair tie, keeping it as a ponytail. Her feet were bare, and another thing she noticed, her stomach was empty. It growled and groaned the moment she moved. It wasn't painful but bothersome. It was instantly that Claire got a whiff of something unlike anything she ever smelled before, and it was hot and sweet, something she wanted. She slowly pushed herself off of the bed. The door that was closed last she remembered was now open, slightly, and allowed golden rays of lights to snake its way into her room.

Claire cautiously pushed the door open. A distant memory of what this hallway looked like was gone, and in its place took a white hall was vases of flowers at each door side. No one was in the hall, and none of the other doors were open, but a beautiful record of music played softly throughout it all. The girl walked out into the center of the hallway and looked down both ends. She wasn't scared but she was a bit nervous. Everything looked so warm and nice, and then... that smell. It caught hold of her attention again, and without thinking, Claire walked down the left side of the hall, the only thing on her mind would be that sweet smell.

It led her to another hall. This time it had no other doors to other rooms, and it held no vases of glorious roses. Still the girl continued, coming to the door at the end of the hall and opening it.

Upon it's release, the door hissed out loud. It didn't concern Claire. She opened the door until it hit the wall, and then after, huffing and puffing, looked to the side. The aroma was so strong she could almost taste it. The source of the smell was soon found out; a man in elegant clothing, laying on the floor with angel wings drawn behind him with crayon. Roses were made as a makeshift bed, and beside his legs was a contraption. Claire only recognized the baby bottle on the end of it. Her eyes flickered back to the man, no the angel, and took a big sniff of the air. She gasped aloud when she found that the smell came from the angel on the ground.

She didn't know what this meant. Would she have to drink the man of the smell? Would she have to crack him open like a crab? No, no that was too silly. The idea of snapping his limbs like crab legs made Claire giggle - she had no idea way. It was just such a funny concept. And then, an idea struck within her head. The contraption near his legs, the end had a sharp point. She could just stick that in there and suck the sweet stuff out. Perfect!

With a smile and a little pep in her bare step, Claire picked up the device on the floor. It had a handle, which was perfect. It was lighter than Claire would think. She made her way to the chest of the angel and looked at his sleeping face. He sure was a pretty angel, Claire thought. Like a singer or movie star. Without hesitation, Claire sank the pointy end of her device into the torso of the angel.

She was surprised to see the baby bottle fill with a light red liquid. She didn't expect it to work, frankly. Not that she was complaining! Claire pulled the device from the angel's chest, which was a bit of a tug, and caught the nipple of the bottle between her lips. Her teeth dug into the rubber nipple. Her mouth exploded with a new taste. Something so sweet and honey-like, yet so cool and mild. She loved it, loved it so much she drank the entire bottle in a flash. "Wow, this is good!" She said to herself, not hearing the difference in her once beautiful little voice. She was too busy trying to get every drop onto her tongue to notice it. Not that she would care even if she did. Her mind was rewired to whatever Suchong wanted, and her voice changing was not something that concerned him. The only thing that mattered to now both of them would be ADAM.

Just as Claire was about to dig the point back into the angel's body, something for the first time talked to her. It was more of a scream than anything, and it shocked her. A man, that's who was talking to her, "Little Sister! There, there! A fresh one, a new one!"

Her eyes went out to the open, which she didn't noticed before, and saw a man swinging a wrench running toward her. This was not a man for her to trust, she thought. She had to run, and run she did.

Claire, with her hand still holding tightly to the contraption that had gotten her the ADAM, ran down the platform she was on and to the right, down a brand new hallway. It looked as pretty as everything else she had seen so far but she didn't stop to admire it's beauty. The girl ran as fast as she could, down long hallways and in between new doors. She didn't stop to think of where she was going. Only to get away from this monster man, far far away.

It ended when she came to a stop. An empty room with nothing. Absolutely nothing. Claire could hear the man's crazed laughter from behind her, getting closer and closer get minute she idly stood there. She had to look around, better, and find something to help her. That's when she spied the vent, too high for her but not enough for her not to climb. The man now saw her, and dragged his wrench on the ground as he sped after her. Claire scurried over to the vent, this time dropping her toy and jumping up. Her fingers barely caught hold of the side of the vent opening, and she slipped and fell. "Oh no, this one isn't goin' into her hidey hole!" the man yelled behind her. He was closer.

Panicked and now scared, Claire jumped up again and this time she had grabbed on, with the fronts of her fingers. She heaved herself upwards. It was hard and exhausting but she didn't stop. She had gotten her upper body up and into the vent when she felt a tug on her legs. She was pulled back, she screamed.

The man dropped her once she was out of the vent. He ran his eyes up and down her little body like a bloodhound. As if he was hungry and wild. His eyes sure said wild. The man beat the wrench onto his palm as he took his time to walk toward the Little Sister he had caught. She was cowering against the wall, not knowing what was going on or that this man planned to rip her body open for her sweet insides. The Splicers didn't know exactly where the ADAM had resided yet. They only knew that ripping a Little Sister open would get you to it. They were messy and unorganized, something that would surely be their downfall soon enough. For now they were wild animals, destroying everything until they got what they wanted. And this man wanted the little girl ADAM resting within them.

His grin grew at her shaking body.  _Good_. He  _wanted_  them to be afraid of him. He wasn't anyone by the Splicers but soon enough, he would rule over them all. The man grinned even more at this illusion and didn't hear the moaning of the monster behind him.

He was knocked to the side by a huge metal... something. He didn't exactly know what it was as he was slammed into the wall by the force of it. Once his eyes had adjusted, he finally saw it. A huge metal diver, with a drill for a left hand. There were multiple little glass screens on his helmet, and a deep ominous red light poured from it. The man grabbed his wrench with tight hands. He was angry. "Hey! Go get your own little girly pal! I caught this one fair and square!"

The beast wasn't here for the little girl, to kill her on the spot. No, he was here for the man. This devilish man who didn't think twice about killing a child. The beast shouted, revving up the drill for a hand, and rushed after the man. He didn't even have time to think of a way out of it. The drill sunk into his chest. Blood sputtered from his mouth and onto the beast's helmet. His gurgles of death were then replaced with shrieks of pain as the drill spun, mushing up his bones and organs and muscle. Like a soup, ready to be eaten. When the beast was done, he lifted his drill, spun it a few more times, then threw the body from him like it was already rotten. Like the beast was  _disgusted_. In a way he was, but not in the way one would think.

The big, hulking beast then turned to Claire, who watched the event play out with different eyes. When the beast looked at her she flinched, cowering once again and hoping that he would be quick with her. It didn't play out that way, however. Claire heard his heavy steps lumbering towards her. It shook her body down to its core. Her eyes were closed the entire time, and when she was sure the monster was standing right in front of her, she prepared herself for the drill. It never came, and it never would.

Upon opening her eyes Claire saw a hand.  _His_  hand, extending toward her with a gentle green light. She was confused. "Y-you're not gonna hurt me?"

The beast moaned in reply, his hand still out for her.

And she took it.  
  
  
  



	6. Chapter 6

**MARCH 05, 1959**

It had been a few weeks of Claire and her Big Daddy scouting the streets of Rapture together. At first, she was hesitant about going out into the new areas of the city, following the intoxicating smells of angels for her to harvest. Yet after she realized that her dashing hero Daddy, who she had named 'Mr. Bubbles' because of the little screens on his helmet, she knew she would be safe. Every time her needle was jammed into an angel's heart, and the baddies came to try and snatch her up, Mr. Bubbles was always there. He was her protector.

She had gotten past the fact that he wouldn't (or couldn't) talk much. Claire would make a comment about the fish behind the big windows and all he would do is groan after her, like a big whale slowly tugging along. At least he tried and that's all that really mattered to Claire.

The majority of her life then turned into her finding these angels and getting their sweet nector from their insides. The girl didn't know why she only found this substance to be acceptable. In the vents, where she met other little girls with big eyes like hers, they would bring other treats to munch on. Cookies and lolis and sweets. Yet every time a girl tried something, they would spit it out and complain about the awful taste. Claire did this too, and it was odd. She could faintly remember chocolate sweets being a favorite of hers - but not anymore.

And on that day, like all days, Claire climbed out of a vent to greet her Big Daddy with a grin, and this time a drawing she had did of the two. Setting her needle toy on the ground, the girl lifted the drawing up at his bubble screens and squealed, "Look Mr. B! It's you and me! I drew it all by myself!" His response was a soft, low groan and a pet to her head. From his big hands, her hair had now become a bit messy and knotty. This granted the monster a giggle from his little girl. "I just brushed my hair! You hafta be more careful."

The Big Daddy lowered his arm which allowed Claire to swiftly climb up and onto his back so she could sit on his oxygen tank. She tucked her drawing between his helmet and his suit then gave a pat to his head. "Onwards Sir Bubbles!"

He happily bounded forward.

Their day continued as usual; Claire would guide him to a fresh body, she would start to harvest, Splicers would come for her and it would end with her Big Daddy saving the day. As repetitive as it may seem, Claire loved it. This way she could see all of Rapture and find new places to play. In the vents she would meet new girls who talked all about their Daddies. It was fun and exciting. Every girl would call the other sister. They were all a big family of Sisters and Daddies. Claire had never had a sister before.

There was one girl that all of the others would rarely talk to. She mostly stayed near Arcadia, a place were trees and flowers grew. Claire had only been there once and that's where she met her. Claire didn't know her name but she wore a soft, baby blue dress with white frills on her sleeves, so Claire nicknamed her Blue. From what Claire had observed, Blue had no Daddy. Blue would wander around the pretty garden with tears in her eyes, crying over and over for her Daddy to come back. The other girls talked about this a lot, wondering why Blue never talked to others and never wanted to leave Arcadia, despite the danger she was in without a Daddy to protect her. No Little Sister ever left by themselves, and if they did it was to look for their Daddy yet they never strayed too far. Going out into Rapture alone was scary, even with the sight each girl was blessed with. A Splicer could get them at any moment without a sound. It was a scary thing to think about.

The girls were given their answer about Blue one day. Another girl named Janie, who was a little older then the rest, told them; "Her Daddy died by the baddies."

No one had heard about the Splicers actually winning and  _killing_ their protectors. Each child was made to believe that their Daddy would always win, would always fight them off and  _never_ leave them. It just never occurred to them that maybe, just maybe, their Daddies could be killed.

The girls never talked about Blue and her Daddy again.

That day, Claire smelled an angel closer to the busy city parts of Rapture. So far, her and Mr. Bubbles had stayed far away from them. Claire didn't know why, as it was all by Mr. Bubble's, but today she made him just inch a little closer to get the ripest, fattest angel she had smelled ever. She sang a song about this angel, telling Mr. Bubbles about how he was the best angel she had ever smelled. He just groaned in reply. He didn't like this idea, not one bit, but he would do anything to make her happy, and she was so excited about this angel for whatever reason her little brain had thought of. So, just this once, he would allow her to get closer to the city.

They had made it to the back openings of Siren Alley, a place that had mostly closed down by that point anyway. This didn't bother the girl at all. Once the door had been opened she dashed inside, sniffing the angel out and admiring the new place all at the same time. Her Daddy groaned as he shuffled after her, probably telling to her wait and slow down. They were still out in the open, after all, and Splicers could come from any where. Claire never thought of the dangers that much when excited. It was good that she had her Daddy to protect her.

Once she had located the angel, squealed and pointed toward him, looking over her shoulder at her Daddy. "Look! Look! He's right there!" She turned back around to look at him as Mr. Bubbles caught up, "He smells  _so_ good Mr. B!" And with that, she ran off.

Claire sat onto her knees and was just about to plunge her needle into the angel's stomach when a new voice stopped her, "Claire?"

It made the girl freeze. No one knew her name besides her sisters and her Daddy. She never told anyone, and no one besides them wanted to know. It made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as she lifted her eyes to settle on a woman a few feet away. A woman that had her same hair color and sobbed out loud once Claire had looked up. Her hands went to her mouth and she took a step back.

Mary couldn't believe it. It was her daughter, her Claire, with empty ghoulish eyes and... dead gray skin. Yet she knew it was her daughter. Her hair and her soft voice, that was now twisted and demonic, gave it away. Mary had no idea how she had made it to Siren Alley by herself, and why she was about to stab a weird contraption into a dead body. They were several ways from Apollo Square and Claire would never venture out alone, Mary had taught her not to when she still had her. It was all a mystery to the woman until she saw who was standing behind her, protectively jutting out a drill and ramping it up. A warning to her own mother. A metal monster from Hell.

Claire continued to stare at Mary as she stood there. She didn't understand who she was and how she knew her name, or why she was here. It kind of annoyed her. She was ruining her routine.

"Claire... honey, do you remember me?" Mary said slowly. Her eyes flickered from her child to the beast, not sure exactly who to focus on. "It's Momma. I'm your Momma."

The girl gave no indication that she even knew a smidge of who she was. And it broke her.

Mary couldn't help from crying. "Claire you have to come home with me. We're going to get out of here, to the surface and see the sky and the sun. Do you remember that?" Claire didn't but she felt sorry for the woman. She didn't like to see anyone cry, and this woman was crying a lot. She was so upset and Claire couldn't fully understand why. Maybe if she told this woman that she needed to go, she would listen and stop crying and being sad. Because sooner or later, her Daddy would get tired of this woman and slam his drill right into her body, and Claire didn't want that. This woman was just sad but she needed to go. "We're going together."

"I don't have a momma," Claire said at long last, and it made Mary cry out even more. It was what she said and because it was her daughter's voice, mangled with other. A little monster, a freak. Mary just wanted to scoop her up and run away, far away and to try and get to the surface. "I'm sorry miss. You need to go away or my Daddy will get you." To which he revved up his drill again.

"You're not a baddie," she continued. "But Mr. Bubbles doesn't like you. He thinks you're going to hurt me."

Mary decided to try and make a deal out of it. She sniffled and wiped away her tears with her sleeve. "I promise I won't hurt you. I promise. I-I care about you a lot. I just... want to make sure you're okay." Mary had no idea what her next move would be but it had to be something quick and fast. She saw Claire smile and turn back to the monster behind her, telling him it was okay. He didn't fully put his drill away, and the screens on his helmet remained a dull yellow. He was still on guard no matter what Claire said. She was a child after all, her judgment was flawed.

"Can I... can I just hug you?" It was a risky question and Mary had a sliver of doubt in her mind but to her surprise, Claire agreed.

She stood up, dusting off her pale pink dress and smiling once again.  In her two-toned voice, Claire replied, "Okay!" She walked toward Mary as Mary took a knee to be at her height. She opened her arms and allowed herself to engulf her body around her child's. Claire hugged back, around her neck, but it wasn't the same. Not how she used to. Thoughts ran through her head as she hugged her and that's when she came to the decision to stand up, wrap both arms around her entire body, and run.

Both Claire and the Big Daddy screeched into the air as Mary ran away from her. Mary didn't expect Claire to thrash around so madly. It was hard to keep her arm around Claire's legs as she wriggled and squirmed around, but Mary was determined to keep her hold on the child. Even though she was screaming at the top of her lungs. Mary could hear the pain in her voice as she twisted around, reached her arms out and yelled, "Daddy!"

It hurt her, pained her, but Mary was not going to let her go. She was the only thing Mary had left, as she was stuck in this underwater prison, and she needed her happiness for as long as she could get it.

Meanwhile the tin monster behind them dashed after, wailing with bright red lights glaring after Mary. His drill screeched for Mary's blood. It ran chills up her spine but she kept going, kept running, until she tripped on such a little street curb.

Claire flew from her arms and crashed onto the hard ground. She rolled, landing on her back but quickly sat up. She backed away from Mary, huffing and sobbing, crying, "Unzip her Mr. B, unzip her!"

Mary then pushed herself up, able to climb onto her feet. She turned around, coming face to face with Big Daddy. He stopped. Claire was behind her, and she was in danger this way. He would do nothing to hurt her. He stood still.

Mary's chest rose and fell with each heavy breath. Her hazel eyes never left Big Daddy, and his never left her. She was thinking of another move but ultimately couldn't think of any. She couldn't turn around and pick Claire up and run, and if she did how long would she have to run? Would Claire even stay with her? With that slug in her stomach she was a completely different child now. She didn't want the love of her mother. She wanted the protection of the hunk of metal with a death drill. And it killed Mary.

Slowly, she backed away from the two. She looked away as Claire jumped to her feet and ran to the Big Daddy, squealing and laughing. Her smile was so wide.

She watched as her daughter and the monster walked away, forgetting all about her - content with themselves and happy for the other's company. Mary stayed here for hours before retrieving back to Apollo Square. It was early in the morning when Mary threw her apartment door open.

* * *

 

**MARCH 16, 1959**

The revolver was glue on her fingers. She would never let go. She would die with this shiny silver revolver and no one would come to take it away and give her a proper burial. No, her body would rot in this apartment, 245 in Apollo Square, until the end of Rapture. Until the end of time. People would come months from now, looking for ADAM and things to survive and all they would find is the life of a once happy family, and a rotting body in the corner. This didn't bother Mary at all. Without her child she would never find a purpose for living. She just prayed to God that her darling Claire would be safe and sound with that freak of science. She just had to be. Her true father was now gone and her dead mother couldn't do anything to save her. She failed Claire long ago.

Mary sighed and brought the barrel up to her temple. She took in a deep breath and before pulling the trigger, she looked out the window. The same window Claire would stare out for hours. She drew pictures of the different fish she saw and said when she had gotten older she would see all of the fish in the world.

She couldn't stand to hear Claire's happy laughter in her head anymore and pulled the trigger to silence them.


	7. Chapter 7

**JULY, 1959**

Her tiny fingers let go of the vent opening, dropping down to allow her feet to catch herself on the small step of metal. It was a struggle as she clutched to her harvester, a weird contraption that held a baby bottle for her pale lips to snag onto and suck any ADAM that was inside. However her Daddy helped her out, grabbing the harvester in one hand and using the other to allow her to hold on. Her feet stomped onto the tiled floor and with the bareness of her skin, made a funny sound. Claire giggled at this - like she did at most things. She was a happy child in this hellhole of a city, and that's all anyone could really ask for.

In the recent months, Claire had seen more of Rapture than she had ever dreamed of. She hadn't made it to the highest points yet but that was definitely a goal of the child's. From the many different colored fish she saw, she drew a picture for each. Some of the pictures were lined in the vents or one the outsides of the openings. Her Daddy even took some. And others were lost in the places they came from. This never bothered her as she saw it as a way of letting others see her artwork, and that was truly special.

"What are we doing today, Sir Bubbles?" Claire asked as she climbed onto the tank of his back. The monster groaned in reply. She giggled and pushed her brown hair from her eyes. Although every day was practically the same she still asked him, to make it out to be a new adventure day after day. In her mind, she was an adventure princess and Big Daddy was her knight, protecting her as she went on her journey. It did help to think of her situation this way. Sure, she was rewired to think of anything  _but_  the horrors she could never see but still, it helped the child with her boredom.

The two went off for their joyous day in the Rapture sun. It would play out as any day would, with Claire finding about four bodies and then her returning to the vents, her Daddy sitting outside until the next day, where their adventure would continue.

Yet somewhere in Olympus Heights, specifically Mercury Suites, the greatest scientist of her age Brigid Tenenbaum would be hard at trying to find a cure for her demonic disease that feasted on little girls. Guilt had clouded her days for years now and she finally had the means to finally do something about it. Before the war, she was stuck to working for Fontaine. It was torture to do such things to people, especially the innocent little girls. She watched the first few girls to be tested on and will never get their screams from her mind. They will forever be etched in her nightmares when she dreams of this place years from now. And right that they should. Tenenbaum hated herself for ever finding that damned sea slug, for bringing it to Ryan and Fonataine's attention and getting the ADAM program on a roll. If only she stayed away, far away, and never ventured into Rapture. Things for everyone, and those girls, would be different.

Yet now, Tenenbaum was free from the slave work of both Fontaine and Ryan. After Fontaine died, she went to Ryan. It was only for a few months before she quit and went on to try and find a cure for the ADAM sickness. Ryan, having respected her for her work, made sure to cover up whatever the scientist was doing. However when it was revealed as to what she was actually doing, he slandered her in the public eye. From that point on it was over for Tenenbaum in Rapture and that never stopped her. People never really thought great things of the woman and now, the public's opinion hardly mattered to her at all. She would go underground, into the sewers of Olympus Heights and continued her research on finding a cure.

The first time she would test this cure on a Little Sister, to her surprise, it would work. Finding a lonesome, tainted child would be quite the task it seemed. Tenenbaum had no idea where to look, for every Little Sister she saw was guarded by a Big Daddy. She could never get close, and she never would. It would be weeks until she searched in Arcadia, smelling the sweet roses and fruits of the gardens, and stumble upon a single little girl. At first, Tenenbaum thought she was just one of the untainted children. She had hardly seen normal children for some time now, and she almost cursed herself crazy until the girl turned around, her sad yellow eyes boring into Tenenbaum's. The woman instantly kneeled in front of her. How did she survive by herself here? Where was her protector? From what she saw, the girl had no harvester. Was she starving?

"Little one," Tenenbaum cooed, slowly reached out for the child. The girl in response didn't move much, only sniffled and whimpered as she stood there. It broke Tenenbaum apart. "Where is your daddy?"

This gained a sob from her. The girl dressed in her baby blue dress quickly buried her sweet face into the palms of her hands and sobbed aloud. "He fell down! My daddy fell down and didn't get back up!" She looked up at the scientist. "Daddy get up! Get up, we have to go!"

The madness Tenenbaum perfected for the children was working perfectly. Every aspect of her speech tore into Tenenbaum's soul. It took some coaxing but Tenenbaum eventually led the girl back to her haven in the sewers. After giving her some food, real food and none of that hellish ADAM, Tenenbaum injected her newly made tonic into the girl's arm and prayed for it to work. And it did. The girl's veins lit up as the tonic made its way throughout her body, ridding every cell of that ADAM curse and erasing it from ever existing. Her wide eyes were the last thing to alight the room and then the girl fell backwards onto the bed she was sitting on.

This through Tenenbaum into hysteria. She thought she had killed her. The scientist scooped the child into her arms and called out for her, repeatedly until she saw it. Saw the pigments of her skin lift up and melt away back to her peachy, life-like tone. The harsh grayness of it now gone, Tenenbaum sat down on the bed and watched as the girl's eyes opened, eyelids fluttering like a butterfly's wings, and reveal the softest brown the woman had ever seen. The girl yawned and rubbed her eyes, looking up at Tenenbaum with curiosity. The last thing she could remember was a bright room full of flowers and... it seemed like a dream. Suddenly she was so overly tired she didn't think twice of who she was with or where she was. Besides, being in the woman's arms gave her a shield of warmth and protection she never thought she'd receive again. It made her sigh as she settled deeper into the woman's embrace. For the first time in a long time, the girl was warm again.

This was only the beginning. After a few days of observing the girl - whose name was Alice - she came to the conclusion that this curing tonic did exactly what it was made to do; cure. Tenenbaum asked Alice if she remembered where the vents were located and lead, for she didn't had the map of them anymore, and luckily she did. It was Alice's job to journey into the vents and, at first, find where the lonely Little Sisters were, for they would be easier to convince to come to Tenenbaum. Alice did amazing in the first few weeks of her job. She covered a great portion of Rapture in the vents, and there was still much more to get to. In that time, Alice had managed to get nine lone Little Sisters to Tenenbaum, to be cured and brought back to what they should've been all along - little girls. Not monsters for a greedy man's mission.

And as does everything, word of this caught Rapture's attention. Of a cure to the ADAM sickness, starting with the girls. No one knew who was doing this. No one had seen Tenenbaum since her public slander and no one else was smart enough to create a curing tonic. Words of a little girl, about the age of seven, who looked like a Little Sister but was anything but, leading the hopeless girls into the vents far below blew through the walls. However no one had seen what this girl looked like, and if she looked like a Little Sister, it would be hard for anyone to differentiate her from about a hundred other girls. No one in the scary open world would be able to stop her.

This didn't mean the Little Sisters didn't see her.

Oh yes, the girls knew. They knew all about her. The once lonesome girl donned Blue back in Arcadia, who was now leading others to a secret place below even theirs. The girls didn't know what to think of her. Tenenbaum told her not to interact with the ones who still were bonded with their Daddies just yet, and that's what Alice did. A girl would call out for her, and if Alice saw her Daddy, she would keep moving. Tenenbaum told her they would get to them eventually but not yet. Curing a broken bond was easier than curing a strong one.

Claire even saw her, one day. When she was out on an expedition with her Daddy, pulling the needle from a body and dipping her head back, she gulped down the sweet ADAM before looking up and seeing Alice run past. Claire instantly thought Blue only... she looked different.  Her skin was different and so was her eyes, they didn't... shine like before. And she wasn't crying and wailing and she wasn't in Arcadia. She was dashing across the opening and scurrying into a vent but Claire called out for her before she did so.

Alice stopped to turn back. She remembered this one. She was kinder than the rest of them. Alice didn't move but Claire sure did. She took a few steps forward but her Daddy stopped her with a single hand to her shoulder. She looked up, asked him what was wrong then looked back but Alice was already gone.

* * *

 

**AUGUST, 1960**

Being five years old in Rapture was starting to get harder as the days went on. ADAM was heavily needed by nearly everyone in the city. More and more parts of the city were now sealed off by either Ryan or their respective governors. Splicers now took up most of the city's population. And thanks to Tenenbaum, now Little Sisters still bonded with Big Daddies were being cured, with the Daddy left to find some other little girl to protect.

Still, life went on for Claire. She still did her duties as a Little Sister and she was lucky enough to have the same Daddy she was given when first emerging as the sweet creature she was now. She had nothing to complain about in her life. It was all smooth sailing from here.

By now she had seen almost all of the city. She made sure to explore every crack and crevice Rapture had and drew pictures to bring out what she saw. Her Daddy loved her artwork more than anything, and even let her draw on his tank and parts of his suit. He drowned in her drawings. He wouldn't have it any other way, personally. A few Splicers a while back made comments on how "silly" he looked. They were thoroughly stomped to death under his boot.

Yet nowadays, he kept his guard up higher than before. There was word, rumors, of a man who worked with Tenenbaum to cure the girls. Instead of napping the girls up and curing them elsewhere, he killed the Daddies and cured the girls there. Claire's Daddy hadn't seen him yet. Thankfully, they were much deeper into Rapture than he was but her Daddy knew it would only be a matter of time before he eventually caught up.

Claire tapped on her Daddy's screen. " _Hello~?_  Anyone up there, Daddy?"

 He had dazed off again. He was doing that more and more recently.

Her Daddy groaned in reply and allowed her to tug him forward as she babbled on and on about kingdoms and far away places.

 

 

 


	8. Chapter 8

**1960**

The lights poured from the girl's eyes and out her mouth, her body falling from the man's grasp as the light did eventually fade away. In it's place laid the little girl, sprawled out on the cold tile floor. Her skin no longer tinted in that deathly hue, her veins no longer overexposed. The child was lifted up into the man's strong looking, yet gentle arms. Her eyes carefully opened just as he led her to a vent opening. She yawned, looked from the man to the vent and smiled. She reached upwards and whispered ever so faintly, "Thank you mister." Then climbed into the vent, with his help, and descended down into the tunnels below.

Claire watched all play out before her, taking refuge in her own vent opening. She had no idea what to think of this but she knew never to allow  _herself_ to be near that man. He wore dark slacks and a tan sweater. His arm lit up in a white glow when he touched the little girl, then cooled down to a bright blue. His hands made little  _zzzp_ noises as he walked over to the girl's dead Big Daddy and searched him for parts or weapons, even ADAM. Claire shrank back into the darkness as he walked past although he didn't even notice her spying. He walked out of the Farmer's Market with a shotgun in his tight grip.

Claire crawled out of the vent once she knew the coast was safe. Quickly, she dashed from her safety vent and over to the Big Daddy. Luckily it wasn't hers, so she had nothing to worry about. She still lacked any protection - she needed to make this quick. Thinking about it, his own Little Sister didn't even appear sad at his demise. She cried but when that man touched her head with his glow-y hand... she was fine. She even thanked him. Did she care about her protector at all? Claire lifted his hand with much effort and underneath found a drawing his Sister must've made for him. It saddened Claire to think that she didn't care about him as much as he cared about her. She kissed his helmet and wished him happy dreams.

Afterwards she ran back into her vent, where her harvester patiently waited, and crawled back in. Claire made her way to one of the break rooms the vents led to, where no Splicers could reach them and they could rest. It is also where the girls went to talk and chat with each other. Most of the time it was babbles about their journeys in Rapture, other times it was new songs to sing. The girls also went into these rooms to color and share drawings. Once Claire slipped out of the vent opening and landed, a few girls greeted her in a happy hello. Claire waved back but patted down her dress, huffing as she did so. A few girls looked over.

"What's wrong, Sister?" One girl asked.

"Is your tummy too full of angels?" Another asked.

She shook her head no and then answered them, "I saw another Helper."

'Helper' is what the girls called Tenenbaum's partners who healed them for about a year now. More and more girls were being healed of their sickness and the worm in their stomachs that now, the girls were scared to even talk to people. They avoid anyone who comes near them. They were even timid around each other, but they realized only girls with peachy skin couldn't be trusted.

"Who was it?" They asked, assuming it was another cured Little Sister. However Claire shook her head.

"It was a  _he,_ " Claire said. Her words were responded with gasps. "He wasn't a meanie but... he killed her Daddy. With a big boom. And I saw him light up her with his hand! And she fell down and said 'thank you.' I don't know why."

The younger girls, ages two to four, were too young to understand any of this. The older ones knew, though. The oldest Little Sister Claire knew of was nine years old, and she was sadly killed a few months ago. At her words, the older girls told the rest to tell their Daddies of this new man, to tell him to be very, very careful. Claire immediately jumped up into the vents and scurried to the vent she last left him, her Daddy. The very thought of him not being there scared her to her very core. She couldn't imagine her life without her protector, and as much as it scared her to think about it, she still did. It motivated her to trudge on and find her Daddy, to tell him of the danger they now faced until this sweater man left Rapture - for good.

Claire poked her brunette little head out from the vent's opening and looked side to side. Her dark, messy hair fell lightly into her view as her eyes finally found her Daddy. She knew it was him from the pink cat that was on his shoulder, courtesy of herself. Claire swiftly dropped from the vent's opening and ran to meet him. Her words were as wild as her eyes, and at first he thought it was another one of her babblings. She did this before, where she came from the vents and went on and on about how a dragon was after her, and the princess needed to get away. Yet soon her words formed actual thoughts in his brain dead mind and he realized she was panicking about something he already knew about. Slowly, he had gotten down on one knee in front of her and groaned softly as he leaned his helmet forward, resting what would be his forehead on hers. She was silent as he did this. Claire didn't know what this meant as he had never done this before. She only hoped it meant that he was going to keep his unspoken promise about her life being protected in his hands. Afterall they had gone through so much together.

Their sweet moment would be interrupted seconds later. The hissing of a once sealed door broke Claire apart from him. She looked back toward her harvester that laid at the base of the metal vents. Then she looked back at her Daddy. She nearly screamed at the speed in which he whipped around to defend his darling little girl. It was so fast a wind blew her hair off of her shoulders. At the same time, she grabbed hold of her harvester and dashed to the side, careful not to get in her Daddy's way, but she didn't hear any sounds of fighting.

Nothing screeched in her ears that indicated a fight. She stopped and turned and found her Daddy looking at the two figures with a strange, purple light emitting from inside of his helmet. This made the girl halt in her tracks. She had never seen this before. It was so odd to see a new color displayed on him. Claire didn't know how to react. She was so shocked she didn't even notice that one of the figures was now walking toward her.

She blinked from her shock and looked up at the upcoming figure. Claire quickly threw her harvester at the - it was a woman - thing and dashed the opposite direction. Tenenbaum, from behind her, called out, "Wait! Little one, please do not go!"

Claire didn't listen and made it to a vent. She scurried inside and only turned around when she was safely deep inside the metal tubes. Tenenbaum stood at the opening, peering inside only to see Claire's brilliant glowing eyes. "Dear, please come out. I promise I will not hurt you."

Those words sounded so familiar to her, and they reminded her of pain. Claire would not dare to move.

Tenenbaum sighed. She stepped down from the vent and looked over at Jack, who was now standing behind her with the Big Daddy idly following behind. She laughed without humor at the sight and shook her head. " 'Hypnotize Big Daddy.' Whoever the smart son of a bitch who thought of that was indeed, very smart."

She told Jack to undo the tonic as soon as they left the area, and he did so perfectly. As soon as the metal doors shut behind them, Big Daddy's lights went from purple to a deep red. The beast roared in anger, his drill revving up. He went to the door and repeatedly slammed his drill against it and only stopped when he heard Claire call out for him.

She was crying, sobbing in her stance. Her deep wails would only cause trouble for the duo, and so he was quickly by her side. He held her in his big, bulky hands as she calmed down and breathed in and out. He wiped away her tears and she kissed his metal helmet. "'We'll always be together, right Daddy?"

He groaned in the sweetest way he could in reply.

* * *

 

**MAY, 1967**

Normal afternoons were never normal for the duo any longer.

Her Little Sister routine had stopped years ago, when she turned nine years old. To be fair she had no idea what age she was by now, and no other person knew either. In the recent years Claire had been confused for a Splicer multiple times, only for her Big Daddy to come and protect her like she was some fragile little girl. Claire was far from it.

Much like her Daddy, Claire had many of the powers and abilities that came with the ADAM substance. Whenever she was confronted, she used these to her advantage. Bring rocks and rubble to smash into their heads and scorch fire to burn out their eyes. Claire was far from the defenseless little girl she once was. She stood at six five now, gangly for food was hard to come by nowadays, and anything beyond insane.

Yes the sweet affects of Dr. Suchong would only haunt the girls as they grew older. The perfect cover of innocence had slowly melted away to reveal what Rapture was all along. It broke the minds of the former Little Sisters beyond repair. The few who didn't get saved by Jack and Tenenbaum, or didn't get killed and gutted for ADAM, now roamed along the ocean floors like terrified monsters. Their behavior was anything but normal, even for Rapture standards. They didn't talk, and the few who did spoke in little songs and phrases from their days as younger monsters. Splicers would get their hopes up, hearing the girl's voices, only to find out it to be an older Little Sister. No one had been able to kill one yet. No one knew if the sea slug still rested within their bodies. The effects of the ADAM slug clearly shined its way through the many abilities the girls at a merely thirteen years of age could posse. They were powerful, more powerful than their Big Daddy counterparts, and Sofia Lamb knew this.

As quite possibly the only living psychiatrist in Rapture, Sofia Lamb knew how to get people to do whatever she wanted. She knew what strings to pull and what things to say, and now that  Andrew Ryan was undoubtedly out of the picture, Rapture was hers for the taking. As it should had been, in her mind, many years ago.

Yet Ryan left Rapture in ruins, and the only way to bring it back up to its former glory would be to restock on the precious ADAM that her citizens needed. However, with Tenenbaum, Fontaine and Ryan gone, she had no idea where to get the ADAM slug on the sea floors. In addition, the parasites would have to be almost gone by now. Ryan made sure to get thousands of them from miles away, so long as they were found. The only way to start the ADAM cycle again would be through the Little Sisters. This brought up a major problem.

There were no more Little Sisters. Between Jack and Tenenbaum, and the horrid Splicers, the amount of Little Sisters were close to none. The ones who were lucky enough to survive were older now, and based on the records Lamb had found in Tenenbaum's old office, their slugs would have died by now. They no longer could intake the ADAM substance and turn it into something more. This only meant one thing to Sofia Lamb; they would get new ones.

Splicers going to the surface to get the girls would be out of the question. They were too loud, too dim-witted and not suitable to do the job. Big Daddies were gone, too. Lamb thought at first they would be a compliant...  _thing_  for the job. Soon she saw how they also were loud and bulky, and could possibly scare the girls when encountered. It took ages for Lamb to finally find a perfect person for the job and it all rested on the crazed teenagers of Rapture's youth. The older Sisters would need to be tested, of course, and most importantly see if they would listen to Lamb's demands. If not, Lamb had no problem making an example of a Sister or too. For the next weeks that followed, Lamb sent out members of her "Family" to capture and bring in the older Sisters for testing, done by herself and Gilbert Alexander.

Alexander had came to the conclusion that the girls would need new mental condition, much like the type they had undergone when first turned into Little Sisters.

Claire was one of the first girls to be brought in.

It was hard, no denying that. Between the strength of both her and her protector, the two were a force to be reckoned with. The members of the Family were told to kill the Big Daddy first and  _then_ capture the girl. Easier said then done.

The Family members found Claire in Arcadia. After Ryan was killed and Sofia came into power, she allowed the area to be accessible once again. It was a way to tell the people of Rapture that she would ultimately care for them, and help them. Oh, how wrong they were. Claire, upon hearing the news, dragged her Daddy there to play and to smell the sweet flowers and fruits. He couldn't eat them nor smell them but she could. She would do it for both of them. Claire imagined that apples were his favorite. And he loved sunflowers.

They were together, in the gardens, on the day he died. He sat on the floor and watched Claire pick flowers, her twitchy hands ripping some out rather than picking them. She would let out a laugh and then stop, holding it up to her Daddy with a series of grins and frowns. The affects of the slug had turned his little girl into a madman, yet she still lived and breathed and he would never leave her side. He took the flower with the softest touch he could muster and brought it up to his screen, simulating the act of smelling the plant. He had seen Claire do this numerous times. He was just leaning forward to hand the dainty flower back. Claire was reaching out for him when the doors were, once again, slammed open and a hoard of Splicers ran to the pair.

Claire, instinctively, ran behind her Big Daddy while he roared a warning at the Splicers, growing ever so closer to the two. He didn't give them a second warning and screeched as his drill revved up, ready to be plunged into the Splicers' bodies. His girl, from behind, used her powers to help and pulled boxes and pots of varying things to smash into the Splicers as well. It worked at first. Three Splicers were dead in a matter of minutes because of their work together. It looked hopeful for them. They were going to walk away fine, a little busted up but otherwise okay and alive.

Claire had went to blast fire at the group when they threw something at her protector. It was a ball of purple that hit him in square in the face and made him stop all of his attacks. Her Daddy stopped, lowered his arms and stood there. Still as stone.

"Bubbles?" Claire called out. He didn't turn to her, didn't even look at her. "Bubbles?"

The Splicers around her laughed. One in particular, one who held a shotgun in his hand, said, "Yer daddy ain't worried about you anymore."

Although she was surrounded by people who only wanted to kill her, she still kept her eyes on him. Her Daddy. "Bubbles! Bubbles, move!"

Another laugh vibrated throughout the group. The one who spoke chuckled as he raised his shotgun and blew two shots into Big Daddy's head, and his lights went out moments later. They then went into action, advancing on Claire. She didn't have time to mourn him, the only person she had loved and cared for and was there for her for years, and within an instant shrieked into the air. She shoved herself against the Splicers and pushed through them. She barely left herself any time to think of how to escape from them and this lead to her downfall. The Splicers quickly turned back and lunged forward, grabbing onto anything they could before she disappeared into the series of halls. Their clawed hands grabbed onto her arms and legs, her hair and dress. They pulled until there was nothing of her left, until that shell of what once was a little girl was long gone. She didn't move as an arm came and wrapped itself around her neck and she was forced to move wherever they demanded her long body to move to.

The  Splicers took Claire to a place she had never been to before. A high, tall building with many wide windows that overlooked other parts of the city. With the tight arms around her throat and body, Claire couldn't turn her head to look at much of it but she did swipe a glance at a foreign creature peering in, spying on whatever was happening inside. The split second she saw it, Claire could only make out what looked like a Big Daddy head. Her head was roughly jerked to the side by a Splicer, who laughed in her face and beckoned the one who held onto her to continue.

Claire struggled against the man's hold. She didn't know why he was stronger than her, a child who grew and evolved with ADAM in her blood. It perplexed her so much she didn't come back to the world until her chin was touched, this time by a woman with glasses and styled blonde hair.

Her eyes blinked rapidly as Claire took in her surroundings. Again, the place was extremely unknown to her. She had never been allowed in this building, it seemed. With it's high ceilings and lavish furniture, it appeared as though no one was ever allowed here, even when Ryan was still alive. Nothing was pretty in Rapture anymore. All of the best places Rapture once offered were either underwater or ripped apart by Splicers. However, according to Sofia Lamb, she was repairing the city. Slowly, and rebuilt on her philosophy, she wanted to bring Rapture back to it's former glory. Claire had seen the drawings members of her Family had drawn, all over the walls. It reminded her of the drawings the Little Sisters used to do, ones she even did herself. They were all faded by now, or washed away by the sea water. 

The woman sharply turned Claire's head to the side, then let go and stepped back. Claire watched her eyes run over her body multiple times before she turned to one of the Splicers, "Where did you find this one?" Her voice sparked memories in her head. Claire had heard this woman's voice before. She was almost sure...

"Arcadia," he responded. His chest had puffed out, trying to show off to this woman. "She still had one o' them tin daddies with her."

Claire didn't make a noise as the woman looked back at her. A single one of her perfectly arched eyebrows raised. "She managed to keep a Protector with her? Was he an Alpha series?"

"Nay, a Bouncer. He had rust up the ass, he was an old one."

Something about this fact sparked an interest in the woman. She pressed her lips firmly together as she thought, looking at Claire straight in the eyes. Through her dark and messy hair, Claire stared back. She wasn't going to lie to herself; this woman terrified her. She gave off such an intimidating vibe - one Claire knew a Big Daddy would give to Splicers. However now the tables have turned. Claire was no longer under the protection of her Daddy and she had to stand up for herself. She never broke eye contact with the blonde woman, not even when she told the Splicers to "take her back to the examination rooms."

The minute this order was given, Claire pulled against the man and shrieked, trying her best to break free. This did nothing and as calm as she remained the entire time, Sofia Lamb walked up to Claire and shot a needle into her neck, pressing down on the button. As Claire's entire body went into a weakened state, Sofia whispered, "You will thank me. You will become such an important asset to our Family."

At the time Claire didn't understand, nor did she want to. But when she would awake, Claire would be one of the most feared monsters Rapture would come to know. People would shake in her presence. They would fear her name. And many would die by her hand.

 

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

**JUNE, 1967**

It was her first time on the surface. It would be a night she would never forget for the rest of her entirely short life. Claire Locke had gone from an innocent child brought into Rapture by her parents, to a diseased little girl that drank from dead bodies and now, she was what Sofia Lamb and Gilbert Alexander called 'Big Sister.' Her real name now long forgotten, she would never know what it truly was. When she was brought back from her surgery nearly a month ago, she had a completely different mindset than before. While she was too quick-minded to even focus on surviving, now she was wired and ready for whatever danger came her way. Her powers were tested before her suit was granted, and that was about all the Family needed from her.

There were others. Including herself, Claire counted a total of six Big Sisters for the Family. Though none of them talked to each other, they communicated with gestures and small grunts, similar to what their Daddies did before them. They were way more flexible than their old protectors. After a few days of meeting and learning about these Big Sisters, Claire learned two of them knew her, and she knew them. They brought her to rooms where they left drawings, or toys or places they once played at. It was a warm feeling to know Claire was not alone in all of this, however feelings were rarely favored in Rapture, especially now. She would just make mental notes to help them out when needed. They were, after all, her sisters once upon a time. They all laughed and smiled and danced with each other. It was only fair.

For a few weeks, Claire was on duty to remind the citizens of Rapture who was in charge now. They were the guardians of the Family, the ones watching what everyone did. It was rumored they would report back to Sofia Lamb when they saw something interesting but, many noticed the Big Sisters didn't or couldn't talk. They made no noises at all when encountered, and if you were a threat, they would shriek so loudly one's brain would shake. Yet they still watched all. A saying then appeared on the walls:  _Be careful! Big Sister is watching_. Claire noticed them even before her transformation into Big Sister. She never knew what they meant, as she never ventured into a place where Big Sister lurked. However now, she noticed that she saw Big Sister everywhere. On the walls, outside of the walls and inside of the people. Even the ones who weren't apart of the Family knew of Big Sister, and she infested herself in all of their lives. Claire didn't want to be apart of this infestation, but she had no choice. She was pulled in by Sofia Lamb and made to choke others. It was all for her.

She noticed the other Sisters leaving. Walking out of Rapture into the watery air, then flashing upwards until gone from sight. Claire had no idea where they went after they flew above, and it wasn't like she could just ask them. So far, four of the main six had gone up there. The other two, herself and a Big Sister with a dent in her helmet, were permitted to stay inside.

Claire wanted to ask Sofia, 'Why can't I go up where they go?' But it was like she had forgotten all the words that came with her mouth. Even if she really tried, Claire couldn't speak. The issue didn't scare her. It just annoyed her to a point of extremes. She tried to tell Sofia, in any way she could, and when Sofia finally did catch on, Claire was told no.

"Where they go is a privilege. They do the most important job within the Family. You will get there one day." Which wasn't the answer she wanted. It was too vague.

She took it out on the Splicers. Shrieking upon her arrival and crashing down in the square, Claire bent her upper body in a menacing way. The Splicers all around her backed away, some screaming and others mumbling, "We didn't do anything wrong. We didn't do anything wrong." Did Claire care? No. And she proved this by lifting a Splicer up into the air and crashing his body against the floor. The others began to run but she was too quick. She jumped up in front of their exit route and shrieked once again. They weren't getting out of there. They would never leave the square so long as they were alive.

The Splicer that was thrown onto the floor had stumbled onto his feet. He was swaying back and forth, his brain feeling like a smoothie from a diner. He couldn't focus his eyes on the Big Sister but he yelled out at her and threw his wrench weakly at her. It fell in front of her feet. Her light that emitted from her helmet burned red at the anger boiling inside of her body. She wanted to rip these bags of trash into a million pieces. Her light fell onto the Splicers who threw the wrench and she screamed once again, making everyone around her crouch down and hold their ears. Claire ran forward, jamming the needle infused into her suit enter the Splicer's chest and rip out onto the other side. He gasped for air as this happened but he never bled. The ADAM invested into his body didn't allow it to happen. This only angered Claire even more. She wanted the see him bleed. She wanted to watch the blood pour from his body like water seeping through the cracks. This wasn't supposed to happen. It wasn't supposed to work out like this!

And just as she was about to drag the needle up and through his skull, a voice stopped her. Distracted her so much she allowed the other Splicers to run from the small square and back into the shadows of the city. The Splicer still within her hands groaned with agony. If she stayed like this any longer, his body would grow and heal with the needle still inside. He wanted to die more in that moment than in any in his life. He weakly turned his head to where the Sister was focused on and nearly gagged out loud. He could feel the bile (or was it blood?) filling up in his throat. He wanted to speak. He wanted to cry. Nothing was happening.

A gasp. A stunned stare at Claire and the Splicer, and then a few steps back. Clutched to her small chest was an old harvester, made from nearly thousands of years ago, or so it seemed. Her face, so clear of grime and dirt, oozed innocence the moment she looked at anyone. The only thing that gave away her ghoulish intentions were her wide, haunting yellow eyes. "Who is that, Mr. Bubbles?"

Her voice. It hit Claire in the face like a bullet.

The Big Daddy behind her groaned, putting a hand onto her shoulder and pulled her back. He knew that they were not to interfere with Big Sister's business. He didn't want any trouble and tried pulling the Little Sister back. Only, she was so enchanted by Claire she didn't budge.

"Who is that?" She repeated. Her eyes darted from Claire to the dying Splicer in her hands. None of them could speak. No one could say anything to answer her but the Splicer  _did._

"Big S-sister," he choked out, now with the blood pouring from his mouth. "Big Sis-ster is always h-here."

Claire turned to the Splicer and nearly shrieked at him. How  _dare_  he talk to her, even look in her direction. Claire let go of one of his arms and with that same hand grabbed onto his head, using her strength to crush his skull in before he could say anything else.

The Little Sister only gasped. Her protector behind her groaned once again, pulling as gently as he could on her arm. She shuffled after him a little but really she kept her eyes on Claire the entire time. There was something about her, about Big Sister, that this girl loved so much. While Claire pulled the dead body off of her arm and pushed it onto the floor, the Little Sister said, "Big Sister?"

Within a flash Claire was looking at her, red light simmering down to a soft green, much like her Daddy. In fact, maybe that was why she was so intrigued by Big Sister, because she looked so much like Big Daddy, and she knew he was kind and friendly and he took care of her. She smiled at this thought and looked behind her, calling to her Daddy, "Big Sister can play with us, Bubbles!"

The girl turned back to ask what game they would all play together but Claire was gone by then. She was running towards Sofia's office. She didn't know that Little Sister were back in Rapture, she hadn't seen one for years. All the ones she knew had grown up or were killed, or, years ago, taken away from Tenenbaum and that sweater man. The idea of having her own Little Sister to protect and play with... it somehow felt like the right thing to do. To continue on what her own Daddy did for years. Almost like a legacy. Claire jumped from wall to wall, running as fast as she could to ask Sofia for a Little Sister of her own.

She wasn't given one. She had to earn one. And that's what she was doing up onto the surface, on that warm night in June. She had to prove to the Family that she would help them in anyway she could. Claire would do it, absolutely. She would do anything to get her own Little Sister to keep.

Her helmet peering over the ocean's waters, looking to shore and seeing it almost empty. A few people lingered here and there but if she were quick enough, they would never even know she was there. She had to be quick, she knew that. Sofia gave her very clear instructions on what to do once she was on the surface. Don't get caught. Don't let others see you. Don't leave tracks behind. Grab a little girl, not a boy. The girl can't be really young, she has to walk and talk but she can't be too tall. The last instruction was very clear to Claire; she knew what Little Sister looked like. It wasn't hard to tell. Little Sisters giggled  like roses. Their sweet smiles made you feel you had all of the ADAM in the world. Claire wanted this feeling all of the time. She wanted to be surrounded by it, she wanted to drown in it. She  _had_  to do whatever Sofia said.

Back under the water the kidnapper went, swimming closer to the sandy shores of the Parasite's world. Claire remembers all that Ryan had said about the surface. Although she also had other talks of it, Claire could only remember the evil, greedy world as told by Ryan. Ryan, Andrew Ryan. The name seemed like from another world but she couldn't worry about that now. Claire had a job to do. She pushed against the currents of the water and made it so close to the shore, if she inched her head forward she would hit it with the tip of her helmet. Claire dug her fingers into the sand and watched them sink in, for only seconds, before crawling up and into the air.

The world around her was quiet. Still. Peaceful as the Parasites slept. To her left, yards away, Claire saw two people. They weren't fighting or yelling - they sat very close to one another. She quickly turned her head away as they pushed themselves against one another. She didn't care for what the Parasites did. Whatever they decided to do was awful in every way possible. She moved on, crawling quickly across the sand until she was safely hidden by the trees. She had never seen trees like this before, and she had never seen grass either. The teen let her fingers run through it, pinching it and then yanking it from the ground. It took a bit of force and this surprised her. The grass in Rapture was so stuck into the ground, she could only get it out in the recent years. But something pulled her attention away from the surface grass and onto the buildings in front of her, the places she had seen tons of little girls. She wanted to take them all, in the daylight, but Sofia told her only one for now. Only one? It seemed too less. Claire wanted all of their happy feelings, but she agreed and would only get one girl... for now. They all went into these buildings, and that's where Claire was crouching towards now. She snuck her way over to the window, low enough for her to open without being seen. The glass structure slid open and in crawled the Big Sister.

She saw her the instant she was inside.

The girl was asleep, alone in the room, on a bed in the far left side. Her body was hidden by the white sheets but her face and hair were visible. A bit of her mouth hung open as she slept. She was an angel, the light to a very dark and deranged world Claire was used to. Things were never this way, it's true. Claire thought of her life, with the bits and pieces she had left of her memory, as her eyes ran from the girl's long brown hair up to her cheek. Did Claire look like this at one point? A little, sleep angel? No no, girls were not angels. They were princesses. And now, Claire was a queen.

Claire swiftly maneuvered her arms underneath the girl's body, careful not to move too fast to wake her up. All the girl did was whimper softly in her sleep. Claire didn't move as she did this, then wrapped the white sheet that hadn't let go of her legs further around her body. The girl in her arms sighed. Her heavy breathing continued, indicting that she was still sound asleep. Claire had to move forward. The Parasites would be back to check on her, Claire thought. And she wasn't to be caught by them. With one hand, Claire lifted the window and out she climbed, back into the open world of the surface.

The wind had whispered at the girl's hair. Claire was scared it was trying to pull her away. She held the girl closer to her chest, then after looking at both sides of her and seeing no one, not even the Parasite couple, she darted forward, toward the sea.

There was a bathysphere waiting for Claire and the little girl a little ways out in the ocean. It wasn't hard for Claire to swim through the harsh currents of the ocean by herself, but with a child in her arms? She hadn't thought that far - but she knew she could do it! After all, the other Big Sisters could do it. She could too. She just had to think but she didn't have enough time, she realized. Claire, still crouched low to the ground, had stopped at the water's edge. Her head whipped back and forth to either side of her, making absolutely certain no one was around. Claire had to do  _something_. She looked down at the sleeping girl in her arms. She didn't have a helmet for her; she'd drown underneath the water. Claire couldn't keep her over her head, she had to swim down to the bathysphere. The Big Sister was just about to shriek out in annoyance when something bobbed up to the surface, a few yards away. It didn't take her long to recognize it as the bathysphere.

"C'mon Sister, we got's to hurry," a voice came over her radio in her helmet. Yes! Some Family member was here to help! Thank God!

Claire then went into action. She knew exactly what to do. On her back, screwed into her suit, was a cage. At first she had no idea what it was for, but then she knew exactly. It was for the Little Sisters to hold onto as they traveled with the Big Sisters. Since they weren't as big as the Big Daddies, they needed something for the girls to grab to hang on. It was genius and now, that's what Claire was hoping this cage did - hold the girl inside while she swam to the bathysphere.

Claire held the girl high over her head and snaked her body down into the cage. The girl was laid against her back and Claire set out for the bathysphere.

She didn't want her to get wet, to wake up to nothing but the black ocean below. Claire knew she could skim across the water if she tried, tried really hard not to touch it. Eventually, Claire was able to grab a boulder and let that take them all the way to the bathysphere. The top opening slid open and Claire jumped inside, the lid closing right after. Inside was a single man, who didn't look nearly as deformed as the rest of Rapture's population. He was a bit startled at Claire's entrance. Was he not used to Big Sister's presence? Well, not many were. Mostly Sofia Lamb, and the Family's highest officials close to Sofia. Still, this man must've been important for him to operate a bathysphere  _and_ come to the surface. He just nodded his head towards Claire once he was calm and turned back to the controls, pulling a lever and pressing a few buttons and the bathysphere sunk back into the water, on it's way to Rapture once more.

Claire, with the help of the man, got the little girl out and set her on the couch built into the bathysphere, making sure the sheet was tightly wrapped around her. After they were done, the man reached behind the control box and pulled out a bag. What ever was inside clinked against each other, a watery sound coming out too. The man opened it and pulled out a vial of deep red ADAM, about the length of his entire hand. He held it out for Claire and said, "From Miss Lamb."

She eagerly took it. Although it wasn't hard for Claire to obtain ADAM by herself she would always be happy, even ecstatic, to receive ADAM. Perhaps it had something to do with her life as a Little Sister. She remembered being overjoyed at getting ADAM, but that was always because the more ADAM she got, the more her Daddy was proud of her. Nevertheless, Claire gladly took the vial in her gloved hands and injected it into her suit, which had a needle that directed moved it to Claire's bloodstream.  Her body felt tingly as the ADAM slowly entered her body, and then a feeling of calm. Claire sat onto the ground, her tank against the wall, as the relaxed feeling melted away and a more hard rock feeling set in. This is what made her strong, what made her so angry and enraged at the Splicers and even the new Daddies. It gave her the emotions she couldn't conceive on her own. It gave her a life.

The man just sat back, across from the girl and from Claire, and let his eyes run all over Claire's body. His eyes narrowed on the needle at her arm, the tank at her back and her blood smeared helmet. He looked down her long, long legs and saw the heavy-duty books that slammed on the floors she walked on. He remembered when he saw his first Big Sister, but it was before they were in suits. She was standing in Pauper's Drop, outside of a diner he remembered he went to frequently. The streets were deserted and she was all alone. The girl only wore a dress, told and tattered, that barely covered her behind. It looked like a dress the old Little Sister wore, that she tried to fit in but was too long for it. The man barely heard a whisper from her, her hand twitching with each hard breathe he seemed to talk. He didn't know what she was at the time, but he never Spliced up too much, so he still had a mind. And a heart. He wanted to help her.

He walked over and put a hand to her shoulder, muttering, "Ma'am, it's dangerous t'stand out here-" The girl shrieked into the air, whipped to the side and threw the man backwards with nothing. It wasn't nothing, he later realized, but the Plasmid  _Sonic Boom_ , which had popped up not long before that. His body skidded to a stop. He looked over and saw the girl, crouch down and shaking back and forth. She was whispered something again.

"- scotch chalk is made with lead, hopscotch chalk is made with lead. Ooh he hurts, he hurts, he hurts!" The girl gasped like she couldn't breathe air. Inhaling so quickly is even scared the man. With tight fists, the girl hit the sides of her head. "Hurt him, Mr. B, hurt him. Tear him into little bits."

He had heard those words before. A Little Sister.

And suddenly he was brought back to the present he was sitting in. His head looked back up at the Big Sister and the little girl at her side and said, "You take good care o' her."

Claire wanted to tell him she'd die to protect them all.

 

 

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the long wait but here is chapter ten! Only one more chapter left, which will be posted this weekend.

**SEPTEMBER, 1968**

"Smell the ADAM? Over there!"

The Little Sister hopped down from the cage on her back, bouncing a bit as her feet were settled on the cold floor. With her harvester in hand, she skipped over to the dead body stuck to the chipping tile floor. It was female, with a huge chunk of her hair missing on the left side of her head. She was dressed in tattered green rags, assuming it was once an elegant dress worthy of any woman of Rapture. Her feet were deformed to fit the angles of her heels. She had Spliced up until the very last hours of her days, and the hole in her chest indicating on what was the ending blow for her. The Little Sister had gotten down on her knees, looking down onto the angel with a glimmer in her warm yellow eyes, and she then shoved the metal needle deep inside of the woman's stomach.

Claire was already set into action. Setting up traps for the Splicer bastards who dared to even try and hurt her Sister. A puddle of oil had leaked from a barrel, and Claire set it aflame at once. The roars of the fire almost scared the girl near the dead body, but once she had who had ignited the beast, she only rolled her eyes. Her Little Sister thought Claire was overprotective, too paranoid in the dark and damp city. She would be fine, she said to her, no one would ever hurt her. Oh how much Claire wanted to tell her of her own days as a Little Sister, and how close she came to the end. Her Daddy was a tough fighter, and she would be forever grateful for that. Yet now it was her turn to protect her Little Sister with her life, and much like her Daddy, she would die for this sweet little girl.

Landing onto the ground behind her Sister, Claire lowered into an almost crouching stance. Her eyes flickered from side to side, waiting for the things to come out from hiding and into the light, where she would be waiting to slice them away. From behind her, the small frame of her Sister sat happily, humming as sweetly as ever as she watched the ADAM fill the baby bottle. She acted like she was in no danger, that she was as safe as could be. In fact, with a Big Sister protecting her, she was.

"Who watches over sleeping angels?" she asked the corpse. "I do, I do..."

Claire smirked inside of her mask as the scream of an incoming Splicer ripped through her veil. Her Little Sister yanked the harvester out and picked another spot to jam it back into. This time she chose the woman's shoulder. Not much ADAM from these places typically, but today it was a gold mine. ADAM poured into the baby bottle eagerly, almost as if it were happy to be there.

The first Splicer appeared - a Spider Splicer - and threw pathetic, hot rings of iron at Claire. She just flicked them away. They were nothing to her, and it was honestly a little disappointing that this is all that came this time. Nevertheless, Claire still had a job to do. She shrieked at the laughing freak on the ceiling and threw balls of burning hot gas at him. In an instant his entire body was set on fire. He panicked, screaming as his flesh burned and fell to the ground. The impact of his back on the ground knocked the wind right out of him, and Claire had enough time to run over to him. She grabbed onto his legs and pulled him toward her, shoving her own needle into his body and draining the ADAM right out of him. This was usually done when the person was dead, as that was the only way the girls could get the ADAM out, but now that they were older and much, much stronger, getting ADAM from a live being wasn't the hardest thing in the world.

The Splicer squirmed and yelled, "She got me! She got me! I can't feel the spiders in my veins!" Claire pulled the needle out from his body and pushed him away, the ADAM not coming to her through the needle. She was getting bored of her little game too quickly, and now she had already decided on killing him.

She turned back to the Spider Splicer, the red light burning into his mind forever. In a frenzy, the Splicer jumped up as high as he could and caught onto the ceiling, catching the Sister's eye and getting a giggle from her. "Look out, Big Sister!"

Claire could almost laugh, at her darling Sister and at the Splicer. Did he not know that the Big Sisters could jump onto walls too? That they could walk on any surface they wanted? They were the masters of themselves. He didn't seem to know. Claire would teach him. She lunged upwards, onto the the ceiling and clung to it's surface. She then crawled towards the Splicer, as fast as any Spider Splicer in Rapture, and swung her needle at him. He dodged it but she was quicker. She shrieked at him, making him second guess himself, and tumble to the floor.

Meanwhile, Claire's Little Sister hummed along. A Splicer ran through the fire Claire set earlier, screamed and then collapsed onto the floor, kicking and flailing his arms until he died. The girl hummed happily along. "Almost done, little angel, don't cry." She sighed, her high brown ponytail flickering across her shoulders. It was always a long time until the ADAM was all gone, although the result always made her Big Sister so happy. She loved seeing her Sister happy. She was always fighting the badies and being all serious. Sometimes she made fun of her, puffing out her small chest and proudly proclaiming a badie to be dead. It made Big Sister clap her metal hands together. Yet she only did that when it was only the two of them. Not like now, where she was on top of a Splicer and repeatedly slamming her needle into his face and neck until he didn't yell anymore. The Little Sister tugged the harvester free from decayed flesh and rotten bone, then turned around to look at her Sister. She was set into a big, bright wide smile. "All done, Big Sister!" she called after her.

In the blink of an eye, Claire had scooped up her darling little one in her arms and was jumping away, all while her Sister happily said, "It's always Big Sister's birthday." And climbed onto her back, into her hidey cage. She sat down against the cool tank and watched Rapture flicker away, at an astonishing speed she would never experience on her own. Walls and water, people and broken walls crumbled away, left behind by a princess and her knight. 

Little Sister didn't know where they were going, but Claire did. A voice, the only voice that ordered her around, came crashing into her thoughts as she pounded the Splicer dead. "Big Sister is to report to the office of Sofia Lamb, immediately." It meant she would have to go alone. Little Sister couldn't attend these meetings, so it seemed. Claire brought hers once and Sofia was extremely angry. She then learned to drop her Sister off at the nearest vent of Sofia's office. Here, she was safe without Claire's protection, and she could also talk to the others. What Claire didn't know is that she snuck into Sofia's office vents and always listened in, even if she didn't understand what was being said.

They had arrived at the vent moments later, and the moment her Sister saw, she stared to whine. "No, no, no. I'm not sleepy." She hated this as much as Claire did, however there was nothing she could do. Whatever Sofia Lamb said, Claire listened. It was not because she wanted to, simply because she was the only who gave Claire the suit and her Sister. So Claire gave her head a little pat to silence her and pulled her out of the pink, ribboned cage. She was greeted with a pouty goodbye.

"I don't want to go in the hidey hole," she protested but Claire only ignored her. With another soft pat to her head, Claire settled her body inside of the vent and walked off.

She was in her office not even seconds later.

Five of the other Big Sisters were present as well, standing tall and attentive, waiting on what Sofia had to say. Claire had to look again at all of them before standing next to them. One girl was gone. She didn't know where she was or if she was late, but it hardly mattered. Sofia had just walked in. The woman in question was pacing back and forth, left to right, in front of her desk, a cigarette brought up to her lips periodically. She continued to do this until one of the  Sisters moved her foot and a creak emitted from the floorboards. It caught Sofia's attention. She looked over at the seven of them as if she just noticed they were there, and put out her cigarette in the ashtray on her desk. She then leaned against the front of her, hands resting on the clean wood. This wasn't like Sofia. She was always so confident and cool, but Claire could tell something was wrong. Whatever it was, it must've been big for Sofia to look so tousled over it.

The blonde woman looked up at the seven girls over the brim of her black lined glasses. "The Rapture Family is a union of love and protection, you all know this. I do not need to lecture you on such issues. You are all very loyal to me, to the Family." Claire shifted uncomfortably. This all felt wrong, for Sofia to praise them. Nonetheless, she listened on. "And what do we do when someone threatens to destroy our family? We stop them. My daughter, Eleanor, is the First Utopian of our great city. She will lead us long after we are all gone... and someone threatens that."

With a tired, almost deadly look, Sofia looked down and a hand went to her head. She sighed. "His name is Subject Delta, and he is an old acquaintance of mine. He wants to take Eleanor away from us, to leave us out to rot. We cannot let this happen. If you see Subject Delta, he is to be put to rest."

And that was it. The girls would listen to every word Sofia said. And so would Claire.

She wasn't sure if she would continue on with her path today with her Sister. It would be best if they took a new route, one with so much ADAM that Subject Delta, whomever he may be, wouldn't go down because it would be a suicide mission. It was the only thing that made sense to Claire, the only thing that would keep her Sister safe and sound. When she approached the vents, she knocked on the tin with her hand wound up tightly in a fist. Her Sister emerged moments later, a smile that could kill a million men greeting her. It melted away all of Claire's fears and anger. It filled up her stomach with such a warm and heart-gutting feeling that Claire couldn't help but pull her Sister into her arms and hug her, run her gloved hand through her soft hair. Although she couldn't feel it, she imagined what would it would be like in actuality. If she tried hard enough Claire could remember what her own hair felt like and thought about it on her little girl.

Her Sister giggled and wrapped her smaller arms around Claire's neck, nuzzling her pudgy cheek against the cool metal of Claire's helmet. "It's okay Big Sister, I will always protect you."

It reminded Claire of her own Big Daddy, even if he never spoke a word to her.

* * *

 

**SEPTEMBER 16TH, 1968**

Her face twisted into something that resembled disgust, but her cheeks were too fat to accurately depict the emotion. "That's a very bad clown."

Claire couldn't help but chuckle in her head. She thought the same thing when she was little too.

She grabbed the extra EVE vials and injected one into her arm, feeling the effects of strength returning to her almost instantly. Claire had run lower than usual in the last fight they had gotten into. Really, it wasn't all that bad. Just a few Spider Splicers and one Brute, but they had really taken their time in fighting Claire. The empty blue vial slipped from Claire's fingers and they reached for her Sister's, ready for wherever she would lead them next. Claire was always ready for whatever her Sister had in mind for them. She would do anything, anything, for her darling little girl. Claire hadn't given it much thought but she was sure she'd die for her.

They were nearing Demeter's Banquet Hall, a place Claire never really visited in her time in Rapture. It used to be filled with tables and chairs, but after years of decay from the water, most of the furniture was now mush. Claire didn't let her Sister touch any of it.

They were following a smell that her Sister had caught, a smell she said she never smelled before. It was new and intoxicating, but to Claire it was eerie. It made her uneasy to follow this new smell but she allowed it to happen anyway. Her Sister could be a bit of a brat sometimes, stomping her foot and whining when something didn't go her way. Although she was still a perfect little girl, Claire couldn't help but to wonder if she would always be this way. Most Little Sisters didn't act such as her's did, but maybe that was because she was special. In that case Claire was as lucky as one could be. She let go of her Sister's hand and let her tattle a bit forward, skipping and humming to the music that poured in and out of her head. Claire made sure to stay close behind her. Her needle attached to her suit's arm was out and ready for any attacks. She was always on her guard, always ready for a fight. Something knocked it out of her that day, however.

Music. It wasn't entirely rare in Rapture but when out in the near deserted parts of the city, it damn well was. It was lively music, a tune one would dance and swing to. Claire thought she recognized the words but she wasn't sure. It stopped both her and her Gatherer. Her Sister leaned her body toward the music and then smiled, twirling around in circles in her spot. "Ooh! Dance with me Big Sister!" With that, she ran off to find the source.

Claire screeched at her action, dashing off toward her. How stupid was she?! She couldn't just run off! Claire skidded around the corner she saw that flicker of her ponytail go around but once she did, everything was gone.

Her Sister, just completely gone without a trace. Panic rose up her throat as her eyes darted around, looking behind mounds of mushy furniture or fake plants or vases. It got worse when nothing was coming up and Claire was sure the redness of her vision was from her own helmet light. Dark, boiling and evil. That's all Claire felt like. Like the purest of evil was going to foam from her mouth until she found her. Oh God she could never imagine what her Protector felt like when she was small and a woman came and scooped her up, taking her away from him. She could never know but now, in that moment, she felt like she did. Anger. It was everywhere and it was drowning her more than water ever could. Claire grabbed the edges of an already crumbling wall and pulled it outward, breaking the rest of the plaster down. Nothing loomed on the other side but she didn't care. She wanted her Sister back. She wanted her now. Right now or she didn't know if she could see again.

She screamed again, as if calling her by a name she didn't own, and ran down the hall, looking between two ends. It was nothing but walls and rotten chairs. Running in further, she saw what the Family members of Rapture had done to the walls. Drawing and coloring words she didn't know. Blue things, with two wings and veins of white, were pinned by their bodies near these words but Claire didn't care. She ran past these sayings and sprang herself up to grab onto the ceiling. Much like a Splicer, she crawling on and scanned the area, looking for any sign of her Little Sister.

She thought she heard the groan of a Big Daddy but she dismissed it. There were no Big Daddies here.

Claire rounded around corner, coming close to the floor with her shoulder when she saw her. Her Sister at a Gatherer's Garden, putting down a basket with bows. Claire didn't know how to respond. She just stood there in awe, waiting for whatever her Sister was waiting for.

She didn't see her as she turned around, giggling to herself and hiding behind a wall for the thuds that were trailing behind her. Claire jumped up on the ceiling again. She wanted to see who was so important to her...

It was a Big Daddy. A Big Daddy with a necklace around his neck. One she had never seen before. He was big and rusted, stiff as he walked up to the Garden, and he groaned with almost every step he took. He reminded her of someone who had just woken up. It was so odd for a Big Daddy to act this way. But more importantly, who the hell was he?

He reached into the basket and pulled out an ADAM syringe. He went ahead and injected it into his arm, no hesitation. Then, Claire knew what he had just injected into his body. ElectroBolt! His body spasmed and quaked, jittered to his left and right until he collapsed onto the ground. Claire watched in horror as her Sister ran toward him.

Her eyes shifted, upwards, where a more child-like scribbling was etched onto the tile. From Eleanor, it read. Though Claire would never know.

"Daddy was sleeping... for such a long time," She sang to him. It felt wrong, all wrong, to watch her do that. Claire ran forward. "...and Eleanor has missed you. ...Find her and you'll be all better."

Her hands snaked around her tiny little waist and gripping her red, filthy dress. "No! Daddy!" She screamed back. It fueled more rage in Claire then her absence had. She wanted nothing more than to let go of her Sister, to throw her back to whatever that person was, but Sisters were important to the Family. And as much hurt as Claire had, she would never hurt the Family. With that, Claire had made up her mind. This Little Sister was another prop to throw about, nothing to her like she meant to be. That hurt even worse but Claire kept on running. She stopped once they were at a vent opening, a Little Sister safe haven. She didn't care once she practically threw the child down at it's feet and turned, dashing back to find that Daddy and show her how she felt about him taking away what was hers.

As she did so, she didn't see her Sister's outstretched hand, eyes tearing up, sobbing, "Not by myself! Not by myself! It's too scary!"

 


	11. Chapter 11

**NOVEMBER 21, 1968**

She was Lamb's eye. Scouring the city streets for dirty, pathetic Splicer junkies who whined and complained in their disillusioned mind about how hungry they were. It was their own fault they had become this way, and no one in their sane mind felt sorry for them. Everyone knew that a Splicer had did it to themselves. They chose to inject the ADAM, they chose to continue down that path. They would get no pity from any of the clean ocean dwellers of the city, and they certainly wouldn't get any pity from Claire Locke. As they moaned and groaned for another fix, for just one more sweet, little bite of ADAM to satisfy their needs, Claire would come and stomp out their dreams. She had no problem doing so, it was her pleasure in fact. It was some deep hatred inside of her that wanted to break everything around her when she saw some weak, pathetic Rapture junkie begging for the fix that would only harm him. Maybe it was what they had done to the Family, or what something buried within her from her old mind, but nevertheless Claire was the Big Sister that everyone feared. Although Big Sister was said to be only one person, everyone knew who Claire was.

It was on that awful November day that Claire was doing her job. It was cold, colder than anything Rapture had ever felt before, and the waters that surrounded them never gave them any warmth. Even within her suit Claire's teeth still chattered together. The city was quiet, mostly because of this reason. No one wanted to be out in the windless cold. They stayed in their caves and kept warm, but that wasn't to be said for Claire. She, regardless, still had a job to do. So even if the streets were quiet, fear still needed to be pounded into the people's hearts.

The writing on the walls seemed to scream at Claire as she walked down the halls, pressing her fingers across them as she did so. She couldn't remember what the words said but she knew they were about her. About Lamb and the girls. She could feel how much the Splicers worshiped these words, and how dependent they were on Lamb. In a sight, Claire found it unfair. How could Sofia Lamb handle running the city, all on her own? It never sat well with Claire that Sofia did almost everything herself, but she figured in the end it would all be worth the troubles. Sofia's daughter, Eleanor, would be their true utopia soon enough. Their pain would be erased with Eleanor's rising.

Claire dropped down into a hole, with one leg lazily falling forward, into a building she didn't come to often. The Fishbowl Diner, a place the Family Members came to to relax and eat, chat. However, there was no one there on that day. Claire had fallen down from a hole in the ceiling into the diner, her heavy metal boots cracked the old tiles on the floor beneath her. Upon looking around, the girl saw that the doors to the diner were nailed shut with boards. This was odd. She scanned her brain for any memory of the diner closing, but nothing came to mind. Was the diner always closed, boarded up and shut out from people? She wasn't entirely sure now. Looking at the ripped red chairs, Claire made her way behind the counter and into the kitchen. Pots and pans, dishes scattered the room around her, and it made it even more confusing to the girl if the place was closed this whole time. If fair, Claire  _did_  have a period in her memory where she was lost and dazed, with only the ADAM to comfort her.

The sight made her sad. In a far off way. She didn't know how to describe it, nor why the feeling came over her, but soon she turned heel and left the place, right back up the hole from where she came.

That's what she did most days. Explore Rapture to her heart's content. She loved doing this, no matter the situation. Whether it was killing or searching, she still found time to look at the lights. It was something that amazed her, calmed her, and gave her hope in this underwater hell. A hell she didn't entirely notice all that much but she knew something was better than these rusted watery streets.

That was until Grace Holloways' voice roared over the overhead like fire, coals spitting from her mouth. Claire's head was too foggy to make out the words, the screeches and echoes attacking blocking out anything that tried to get in. The Big Sister leaned against a wall, weakly lifting her head and strained herself to try and make out what the woman was saying.

Grace would only talk for several minutes but to the girl it felt like hours. And the only thing that she comprehended was that Subject Delta had made his way to the Sinclair Deluxe. The pounding was clouding her thinking as she looked down a road that would lead to the Sinclair Deluxe. Why was he here, and how did he get there so fast? The last Claire had heard, he was rotting at the bottom of the ocean, all thanks to Sofia. Had the woman lied? No, to Claire, that was unlikely. The Big Sister stood up straight, forcing herself to knock away the wind and to think clearly. She had a job to do, after all. Above anything, above even herself, she had to protect the Family, and Grace Holloway was indeed Family. Claire tightened a hand into a fist, feeling the warmth of the Incinerate! plasmid heat up her palms. Was she ready?

The girl jumped up onto a building, scaling the brick until she reached the roof. As always, Claire let out a warning shriek into the air, knowing Subject Delta would hear it. It was to tell him, if he remained, she would come and she would not stop until he was dead. She always did this, as well as the other Sisters, when about to fight a hoard of Splicers or lone Big Daddy. But the hoards and loners weren't Subject Delta, a man who had regained the ability to think for himself. A man who will fight through hell and back to get his Little Sister back into the safety of his arms. In a sense, Claire respected him. He was a fighter, and so was she.

Another shriek as she made her way to his location, jumping from wall to wall in the quietest way she could. On the way, she saw people dash from their hiding spots and into others, wanting to see the show.

There was a problem, however, upon her arrival. On his back, resting happily on Subject Delta's shoulders, sat a blonde Little Sister, in a red and white polka dot dress and dirt on her knees. She was staring at the Big Sister in shock, as if she didn't expect her presence, even though she heard the warning calls. The girl leaned down to the side of Subject Delta's helmet and whispered, "Big Sister doesn't want me playing with you." When she looked back up to the older girl, her lights were a mad, pure red. The Sister gripped the handles of the Daddy's helmet and whimpered softly. She didn't know exactly what was to happen, but she knew it wasn't good. Big Sister's helmet should always glow green. Never, ever red.

Subject Delta spied Claire too but she didn't move. They both knew that as long as he had that little girl, Claire wouldn't touch him. What Delta didn't know is that Claire would try her best to the get the girl out of the way before she would attack, even if he decided not to put her down. Claire was used to Splicers threatening to kill the Sister before she could get to them. She would simply ran after them, yank the girl away and run off with her. The Little Sister, in return, was never injured and she enjoyed the ride. However, this was no Splicer. This was a thinking Big Daddy. Claire wasn't sure about how Delta was dealing with the girls, although from the way the girl hugged at his head and seemed scared, she figured he was treating them well. Or, even worse than killing them, he was  _healing_  them. Something Claire didn't fully understand but despised fully. Once the girls were healed, they ran away from Claire. They didn't like her anymore. Yet Delta did something Claire didn't suspect, he turned and lifted the girl from his shoulders, settling her gently on the ground.

The Little Sister gazed up at him with fully, adorned eyes. In that moment, she didn't even seem to notice Claire was standing behind them, crouching with her red eyes, waiting to strike. All that mattered in that moment was Delta and her. The metal Daddy held out his hand for her to take, which she did, and put another hand to her cheek. In a second, a flash of warm light sprouted from his hand and poured into her head, allowing her veins and eyes to glow as well. The little girl gasped aloud, the toes of her feet lifting her precious body upwards as the tonic filled her being and then... she smiled. Her eyes were green.

Claire's gloved fingers ripped themselves into the metal she was crouched on. Her light flared at Delta and the little girl. He did it again, he healed her again. He couldn't do this!

Quickly Delta helped the newly healed girl into the vents behind her, a soft groan emitting from his suit to edge her to hurry along. Before he was completely turned around and before she descended into the dark vents, the girl placed a kiss on his helmet and thanked him.

Delta's hand was encased in electricity. The blue strings of light zapped and crackled around his fingers as he faced the Big Sister before him. She hadn't moved yet. She was still in her crouch position, low and still as stone. Nothing moved but her chest, breathing in the oxygen from her tank on her back. She was considering her options, scanning the area before her to see just how she would go about this. She didn't know what Plasmids Delta obtained, but if he was going for Electrobolt immediately, he couldn't have many. Jumping around him while he displayed the Plasmid was her best option. If she was shot at, she'd lose time. She could not afford to lose any time. Delta had to be killed then and there. No exceptions.

It was mere seconds until Claire dashed out into the opening and landed on the ground, her boots slamming into the streets below. A low shriek escaped her helmet and into the air, a second distraction for Delta as she ran forward, needle out and ready to drain away all of his ADAM. Only he knew and shot a bullet of electricity out toward her. Luckily, Claire jerked her body to the side, pressing her boot hard against the ground to steady herself. She was a little to the left side of Delta but his eyes were never leaving her. There was a disadvantage that Claire had, she was too impatient. She couldn't stay still and calculate her next move during a fight. The girl was impulsive. She acted on actions. Claire pushed herself the moment she was still toward Delta, swinging her other arm forward. A thrust of fire screamed Delta's way and caught onto his arm.

A small victory. Claire chuckled to herself inside of her helmet. She threw another, knowing he wouldn't recover quick enough, and ran back toward him. Delta backed up, shooting another bolt into the air that missed and crashed into the wall. Claire jumped up and caught hold of his suit. Delta thrashed, struggling to get the girl off and Claire saw this as her chance. With her one hand gripping onto his suit for dear life, Claire lifted her other arm and aimed the needle's point at a small opening in the suit. With one jerk forward, the needle sank into his body.

Delta shouted out loud. She was only there for about three seconds before Delta had managed to get her off of him, but those seconds costed him. Claire had pulled out an inch of ADAM from his body. A dangerous loss at Delta's end. Any ADAM taken from hi could lead to his death. He had to be more careful.

Claire landed back on her feet, like a feline. Her body was twisted in an odd angle, one that wouldn't look comfortable to be in but didn't matter to the drugged teenager. She shrieked again at the man but this time it didn't surprise him. At soon as she stopped he shot a bolt of blue light at her feet. The Big Sister had made a mistake, for the first time in a long time. Her left foot was submerged in a pool of water. The crackles of lightning danced up her leg and ran throughout her body. Claire's teeth chattered, her eyes felt as though they would pop out of their sockets. She couldn't move and everything twitched and jerked out of her control. She didn't see the drill crash into her shoulder as a result of her mistake. The teenager's body flew from her stance, twisting and flailing wildly. She was in the air and then she wasn't. Her thin body was crashed against a wall, cracks appearing from her impact. Her head had hit the walls of her helmet and her vision blurred. All she could see was the tint of green and hair.

The Sister was down, this was Delta's chance. The Big Daddy revved up his mighty drill and changed to a different Plasmid; Incinerate! With a grunt, he threw a hot ball of fire at the girl. As soon as the flames hit her suit she erupted into wails and death screams, piercing the ears of anyone nearby, and there was a crowd. Hidden in the shadows, waiting for what was going to happen. They held their breaths at Claire's dying shrieks of pain. Was she finally going to die?

Delta inched forward, watching Claire squirm to try and get the fire out. She was rolling backwards and forwards, her screams never ending. It was in this moment Delta finally took a look at her, or at least her suit. It was a dull gray, bents and scratches and marks decorating her thin body. On her tank was the faded drawings of a Little Sister. Delta could make out a cat. When the fire was out, Claire having successfully extinguished it, she didn't move. She laid still, curled up in a tight ball. Her knees were brought up to her chest, her deep breathing heard loudly. Claire had run out of all of the fight within her, and who wouldn't? The girl had been fighting for almost her entire life. A constant battle for her life and the life of others, of people who didn't care whether she died. And the buzzing memories of a life she had long forgotten, the only thing she knew as Rapture, and Rapture knew her. It had embraced her with it's cold touch and then spit her right back out when it no longer needed her. Lamb was not Rapture, as much as she wanted to be, and neither was Eleanor. Claire wasn't Rapture either.

She tilted her head at Delta, saw the symbol on his hand of fire, and didn't feel the need to kill him. The rage that had once roared within her had now subsided and calmed. She wasn't angry at Delta, she was scared. Of what change he could bring to Rapture and it's people. She wasn't ready for that, she wasn't ready for change. She never would be.

Delta changed his weapon to a rivet gun. He took a few steps back and aimed the nozzle at the Big Sister's body. The Splicers around sucked in air. Their devil spawn would be dead. As much as anyone would want her death to be quick, it was anything but. The rivet bullets hit her body but didn't kill her at first. They just flew and landed into her stomach, her thighs, her shoulders. Claire didn't make a noise as the bullets sunk into her flesh. She stayed as still as she could.

The final bullet would be the one to crack her helmet's glass and shatter her small window of isolation. For the first time in a long time, Claire Locke saw Rapture without the heavy daze of a Little Sister's dream or the tinted glass of a helmet. In her dying moment her eyes scanned the small area she had laid in and thought the place looked beautiful.

In all of it's rusted glory.

* * *

 

**NOVEMBER 24, 1968**

This was it! The moment they would all leave their hell hole behind. The little girl could feel it. She felt the rumbling of the building, the shot that launched them upwards. Up, up, up they went, with all of the little girls peering out of the windows. The oceans moved so fast behind them. The lights of Rapture were barely visible and then they were gone.

Lacy was a jumbled of nerves. Excitement, fear, joy. She was overjoyed with the going to the surface. In the past year so many things had changed for her. Her old life, which was a foggy dream she desperately tried to remember, was long gone and replaced with the life of a Rapture citizen. She was transformed, molded and sculpted into something she never wanted to be. Her days as a Little Sister, however, were vividly action in her mind. She remembered everything, from her first moments as a Little Sister, to her first encounter with her Big Sister, to her departure and her new Big Daddy. Killed by Delta and saved by Delta. She had helped Eleanor as much as she could, a girl she felt as a true sister to her and the others. And now, after a terribly long year, she was going to be free.

The tip of the building burst out of the sea. Everything rocketed to the side, along with the girls but they were too happy to cry about the pain. They immediately all raised to their feet and ran over to the windows. The sky was bright and the sun was just appearing on the sea line. All of the girls had started to laugh out in joy. They hugged one another, jumped and ran around. Some even cried. Their nightmare was finally going to be over.

One of the older girls had already opened the door that led to the outside. None of them hesitated, for fear of the door closing and never opening again pained them, and they all piled outside. Their pale faces were hit with sunlight and warmth. It felt familiar, like a hug welcoming them back home. Yes, the surface was their home. Oh how happy they were to be back. Lacy was holding the hand of a blonde girl in a light blue dress. She had been cured a while ago but had come back for the resurface of the building. She was ready to go home too. The girls squeezed each other's hands, reassuring even themselves, and walked forward, toward the light.

Until they saw Eleanor, kneeling over a Big Daddy. No, no this wasn't just a Big Daddy. This was Delta and he was barely moving. They couldn't see her face as she gently inserted her needle into his body and took out the ADAM within him. All of the girls watched, curious as to what she would do next, but she simply took off her gauntlet and walked to the edge of the building, sitting down and allowing her feet to fall into the water. She stared at her reflection as the girls piled around her. They all wanted to hug her, knowing the pain and sadness that came with the death of Delta. They had all felt Eleanor's fear as a Little Sister, and now they couldn't imagine what she felt now.

One little girl inched forward and handed a Big Daddy doll to Eleanor. She looked around her, seeing her family of girls smile and seem to say, "It's okay, we're here for you." Eleanor smiled at them back and looked forward. Slowly, she let the Big Daddy doll slip from her fingers and sink into the sea. With the rest of their fears and losses, the girls let them sink with it.

Lacy then remembered. The Big Sister's name was Claire. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading, commenting and leaving kudos on this story! It's been a fun ride and I will miss Claire very much. However, I will be writing a new Bioshock fan fiction very soon with new characters in our same underwater city! So until then, thank you and I hope you have a wonderful day!


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